Catastrophe
by Hatter of Madness
Summary: Robbie loves Cat. That he knows to be a fact. But when she is out for a week taking care of her brother and things take a turn for the worst, their not so existent relationship is put to the test. Cabbie. Rated T. Very strong language at times. Drama. Dark themes.
1. Mad World

**~*~Catastrophe~*~  
by Hatter of Madness**

* * *

For not the first time, I couldn't get the door to my locker to budge.

I tried hitting it, slamming it, even putting in the combination backwards, but nothing happened. The door was stuck alright, and I had about thirty seconds to get to class. And if I didn't open the stupid door, again, I would be late.

Groaning, I wondered for a moment where my best friend Cat was. She always knew how to open my locker, though I couldn't for the life of me figure out _how_. Maybe she was just good at everything? Certainly, there was a lot that Cat was downright brilliant at: A great actress, a good friend, a terrific singer. And beautiful. Oh, was Cat beautiful.

Catherina Valentine was, in essence, my dream girl, but being me, I had no nerve to tell her that.

Fifteen seconds until the bell. My locker still wouldn't budge. I groaned a second time, giving up. My teacher wasn't going to be happy if I showed up without my textbook, but would she be even less happy if I was late again? I'd have to take the chance with the first one.

I nearly ran down the hall, sliding into my chair in just the nick of time. Luckily, we had a sub that day, so it didn't seem like I'd need my book after all. I hardly paid attention during attendance, barely responding when the teacher said 'Shapiro, Robert'.

But I was reminded of just how absolutely _fabulous _of a time I had been having when I heard 'Valentine, Catherina', followed by a silence.

"Catherina?" the teacher repeated, looking around the room.

"It's Cat," I mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"Her name is Cat," I said louder. "And no, she's not here."

"No Cat," the teacher mumbled, checking the box on the attendance. The class fell silent as she told us what our assignment was for the day. Since it was just to review the chapter we were reading (this was really one of the only school related classes I was in at Hollywood Arts), most people fell into conversation, so I was off the hook for not bringing my book. Luckily.

My friend Beck turned around and started idly talking to me. My responses left something to be desired, and finally Andre asked, "You alright, Andy Samberg?"

"I told you not to call me that," I huffed, "and I'm fine."

"Where's Little Red?" So he noticed the empty desk to my right, too.

"I don't know," I said, taking out my phone just to make sure that everything was okay. I had a message from her, which I read fearfully, my pulse returning to normal at the end. "She has to take care of her brother," I said. "He's sick." _Thank God._

"Sicker than normal?" Andre asked.

I chuckled. "Apparently."

"So, tell me. When are you gonna tell Little Red, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know things. You really care about her, I can tell. She's special, isn't she?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I finally blurted out, "I don't think I should tell her. She's still hung up on Tug and all, so…"

"Still? Rob, she needs to get over it, it's been a _year,_" he said. "And if she can't see that you're a great guy, that's her loss."

"Thanks," I mumbled. I hastily sent a sad face to Cat, saying, "Be sure not to come down with something either." I looked up at Andre again, sighing and leaning back in my chair. "I know I _should _say something, but how do you tell your best friend that you're in love with her without wrecking your friendship?"

"I don't know, don't ask me," Andre said.

"Do you need some love advice?" Sinjin asked. I ignored him.

"How about this: I'll tell Cat I lo—have strong feelings for her when _you _do the same to Tori?"

"What!" Andre said in shock. "How'd you know about me and Tori?"

"Well, I didn't until now," I said, smiling guiltily.

He groaned. "No way, Rob. I'm not telling Tori that kind of thing."

"And you expect me to do it to Cat?"

There was a long pause, then he said, "I hate you, man. I really, really hate you."

I laughed. "Well, wouldn't it be something if you, me, and Beck, the three best friends, were all in relationships with three other best friends?"

"Yeah, it'd be nuts," Andre agreed.

"Do you need my help or not?" Sinjin asked.

"No," I said.

The rest of the day, along with the rest of the week, passed by in a blur. Cat didn't show up at school once. "Man," I said to Andre as we left school that Friday, "Cat's brother must be really sick if she's missed every day this week."

"Yeah, I know," Andre said. "I mean, Little Red's not exactly a perfect attendee, but she's never been gone _this _much from school."

I stopped by her locker (she had texted me the combination) to get her books for her, like she had asked. "When she came here on Wednesday to get her homework, she seemed really tired, too," I said, opening the locker with ease and growing increasingly angry at how my own locker wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pulled, hit, or twisted the lock. "He must really need to see a doctor or something."

"She said it was strep, I think," Andre said.

I sighed. "Poor Cat."

He laughed. "Poor Cat? You don't even feel sorry for her brother?"

"Whatever."

Andre and I parted ways and I went to my locker, trying a trick that Cat had showed me for the five minutes she was at school just two days before. I couldn't get it to work quite like she did, but it still swung open and I grabbed my books and notes, walking towards the door of the school.

On the way out the door, I realized I had left my English journal in my locker, which I was going to need to write a response to literature on the two chapters of the novel that we were assigned to read and started to head back. On my way there, my phone rang. Digging it out of my bag, Cat's picture popped up on the screen, with 'Catherina' at the top. My heart started pounding in my chest. I knew what I had to do, based on several pep talks from Andre, Beck, and Tori.

"Hey, Cat," I said, answering the phone.

The background noise told me she was in the car. "I think I'm lost," she grumbled on the other end.

I frowned. "Are you driving?"

"My phone's hands free, don't worry," she promised, stifling a yawn.

"Man, you sound tired," I said.

"Yeah, a little. Can you tell me how to get to the drugstore? I was supposed to pick up some cough syrup for him but I have no idea where I am."

"How am I supposed to help you then?" I asked, leaning against a wall and fighting a grin.

"Don't mock me," she said. "I'm about a block away from the school. Can't you just tell me the directions from there?"

"Okay, well, the closest drugstore is about five blocks southeast. So just take a right, go straight for the next two intersections, and then another right. Or, you know, buy a GPS."

"Oh, you're a comedian," she said sarcastically, but I could tell she wanted to laugh. "Okay, I think I know where I'm going now. Thanks, Robbie, you're a lifesaver."

"Anytime. Oh—hey, Cat?" I wanted to stop her before she hang up the phone. "Can I ask you something real quick?"

"Sure, what is it?" She stifled a yawn again.

"Well, first, can I please ask that you no longer drive running on no sleep. Second, do you think I could come over later and talk to you about—"

I was cut off when I heard an ear splitting scream and the line went dead.

* * *

**Hey guys ^_^ I'm hoping some of you remember my last Victorious fic, All We Know is Falling. This isn't the second Cat/Robbie story I promise you at the end of that one, but this idea just popped into my head this morning and I decided, what the hey. Yay for Cat/Robbie ~_~ Also, I cannot be the only person that was angry with the ending of the Blonde Squad. WHERE WAS THE CABBIE I WANTED? Okay um anyway before I start yelling at Dan Schneider, please review. xD**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	2. So Small

Adrenaline kicked in then, followed by panic. I didn't know what to think of it. My breath started coming in fast intakes, and I was definitely in a whirlwind. At first, I didn't know what to do; then, as though I was on autopilot, my legs started carrying me back to the bike racks. I forgot all about my English journal, thinking, _You can explain to Mrs. Chung on Monday. Cat's more important._

I fumbled with the lock on my bike for what felt like hours, wishing that the damn thing would just come off already. It finally did, falling into my waiting hand. Nearly hopping on my bike, I took off in the direction of the drugstore. Wherever Cat was, it sounded like she was in trouble.

I was getting nervous when I didn't see her car anywhere, trying to calm myself down by telling myself that maybe, just maybe, I was overreacting.

That hope was dashed when I saw the accident.

Cat's red Mustang was completely totaled on the side of the road, having collided head on with a pole. But that was not the only damage done to the vehicle. I put two and two together when I saw the semi lying on its side next to the little, broken car, with the driver leaning against his overturned truck. Oozing from a gash on his forehead was lots of blood.

"What the hell is going on?" I snapped, going up to him. In front of Cat's car was an ambulance and a police vehicle. The semi driver didn't respond. "Don't just stand there, say something!"

"Kid…"

"Don't 'kid' me! I want to know what the fuck is going on!" I rarely lost my temper and even more rarely did I cuss, but I didn't care at that moment. If that man made me lose Cat…

No, I wasn't going to think about it. But looking at the little red Mustang—the driver's door was being sawed off—made me realize that a car was replaceable. A human life was not.

Upon seeing the state of my best friend, I screamed out, "Cat!" Two EMTs were carefully pulling her out of her car, as she lay limp and lifeless in their arms. I could hear one EMT telling his partner, "Careful…careful now…" My legs took over again as I ran to where they were, struggling against police officers trying to hold me back. The EMTs gently set my best friend on the ground.

"No, Cat, no," I breathed when I got a good look at her. The gash on the truck driver's forehead was nothing compared to how beat up _she_ was. Blood covered almost her entire body; her skin seemed to match her hair. Her eyes were closed and from where I was standing, I honestly couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. The EMTs were already checking for a pulse.

"No, no, no, no, no," I whispered, breaking through the police, who no longer tried to restrain me. I dropped to my knees next to the figure of my best friend. Upon falling on the ground, I nearly stopped breathing from relief when I saw the small heaves of her chest—small, but still present. That had to mean she had a pulse.

Confirming that theory, I grabbed hold of her hand, which was colder than usual. In the wrist, I could still feel a weak pulse. "Cat," I whispered, fighting back tears. The more I fought, the more the tears sprang into my eyes. _Please, no. You're going to be okay. You have to be. You're my Cat. You're strong. You can do this._

I was definitely crying, no denying it. Firefighters had arrived at the scene as well, talking to the driver of the semi to make sure he was okay while the EMTs kept their focus on Cat. Detectives started to look through her car. Immediately, they found her (now cracked) cell phone and started looking through it.

"Do you know this girl?" an EMT asked.

All I could do was nod. The tears were blurring my vision so bad that I could barely see, even though I had glasses on.

"Name?"

"Cat Valentine," I uttered.

He wrote it on his glove with a pen. "Age?"

"Sixteen."

"What's your relationship?"

"She's my…" I had to stop myself from finishing the sentence the way that I was originally planning. "Friend."

"Did you happen to see the incident?"

A sad shake of the head.

"Make room, make room," the EMTs started saying as a stretcher came through. They lowered it to the ground, one EMT putting his hands under Cat's torso and the other getting hold of her feet. "On three," the second one said. They both lifted her carefully but with ease, hoisting her onto the gurney. As they started to strap her down, putting on an oxygen mask, her breathing became deeper and I prayed that that was a sign that she was going to be okay. Suddenly, she started screaming. Her screams sounded pained.

"It'll be alright," one of the EMTs told her.

I was feeling shaky, but started to run to her, calling, "Cat! Cat!"

"Sir…" a police officer tried to tell me, but I ignored him, narrowly missing the arrival of the second ambulance. An EMT from this vehicle brought out a neck brace. I assumed that this was for the driver of the semi-truck.

I finally caught up with the EMTs treating Cat. Tears were streaming from her eyes and her breathing was far more labored than it was just a minute earlier. "Cat!" I called again.

Without being invited, I jumped into the ambulance as they lifted her up, grabbing hold of her hand. The first thing that they did was hook her up to a heart monitor. The very weak pattern was making me nervous. I held her hand, growing more and more afraid. Her breathing continued on in short gasps, even with the oxygen mask on.

I honestly didn't know if she knew I was there or not, but at the moment, the only thing I could think was, _Faster, please go faster…_

"Can you hear me?" one of the EMTs asked.

It seemed as though she was trying to form speech, as her bottom lip quivered something terrible and she made several throaty noises.

Tears still brimmed in her brown eyes, and I gave her hand a gentle squeeze, rubbing circles on the back of her hand in what was my best attempt to keep her calm. I knew that that was going to be the best thing for her: Tranquility. I was whispering soothing words into her ears as one of the EMTs began to apply pressure onto one of her greatest cuts.

"She's going into shock," the other EMT told his partner.

"No," I gasped. It was just when I thought it couldn't get any worse. I knew two things. One, that shock was life threatening, and two, that it was probably true: She was shivering; her lips and what little of her skin that wasn't red were turning blue; and she was staring at what seemed like nothing. Her hand felt clammy in mine, her forehead was covered with not only blood but beads of sweat, and the heart monitor showed that her blood pressure was extremely low.

Cat slipped back into unconsciousness, and I wondered if we would reach a hospital in time, because that was certainly where we were going. "Come on, Cat," I whispered, still rubbing her palm.

One of the EMTs began working on removing her shoes. I wasn't sure what this was going to do, but I didn't question it. He instructed me to keep talking to her, "in the most soothing voice I could", even though she was unconscious. Again, I didn't know what good that'd do, but I did it anyway, whispering into her ear, "I love you so much." I didn't worry about saying it: If she was truly in shock, she wouldn't remember it anyway, and if worse came to worst (which I didn't want to think about), then I wanted to be able to say I had said it to her at least once.

Carefully, one of the EMTs pulled out a fire blanket from the first aid kit, covering her with it. I knew that ordinarily, you were supposed to turn a shock victim on their side if they were unconscious, but I also knew that they didn't know the extent of her injuries and didn't want to risk aggravating it.

We were getting so close to the hospital that I could feel it. I knew that there were hospitals pretty much all over the city (it _was _rather large, anyway) and that getting to one soon was not going to be much of an issue. But still, I worried. "Come on, come on," I muttered, looking up ahead at the driver.

And that's when I heard the flat line.

* * *

**OOH CLIFF HANGER YOU KNOW YOU LOVE ME HEHEHEHE. Hi everyone, thanks for all the feedback on this! :) In case you didn't notice, I put up a picture to a cover I made for this story, but since it's small you'd have to see the full one on my Tumblr (which I don't recommend doing right away, because it contains spoilers). I can't believe all the feedback on all of my Victorious fics :D It's awesome, thank you so much! And just because I can, ;p review replies~**

**Guest: Er…I realized… I'm not sure what you mean by that (maybe you're telling me about the spelling? If you are, then I chose Catherina because I have a friend named that, who also goes by Cat, and she pronounces Catherina the same way it was pronounced in the episode: Cat-er-ee-nuh. Plus, I got red underlined in Word when I spelled it Caterina and Catarina).  
JoshMcKim: I know! :D So excited for that! But the Blonde Squad was disappointing. :(  
CCougar4270978: I'll take that as a compliment, lol, so thank you!  
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: Yes, I think all of the six central Victorious characters will be a bit OOC.  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Thank you so much! :) I tried really hard on that one to make it good. I love your pen name, btw. :3  
Five Pies To The Face: Lol, sorry about that. I love your pen name, too. :D  
Binnie-Bunny: I'll take that as another compliment, so thank you too. :)**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	3. Lips of an Angel

All I remember after that was blackness.

When I came to—because there was no way I was still awake when this happened—I didn't open my eyes, so I still only remembered the blackness. I could remember just this annoying, high pitched trill, something like a solid beep. Maybe it was like that annoying buzzing that you hear in your ears, that no one else can hear but you. Yes, that _had _to be it…

The annoying beeping was back, however, but this one did not continue long and drawn out like the last. This trill came and went. _Beep. Beep. Beep._ It was like a perfect pattern, almost like…

Like a heart monitor.

I blinked my eyes open finally, seeing nothing around me but a white room. I looked down and realized I was in a hospital bed when I saw the IV in my arm. A cold sweat was on my forehead. This was not something I liked, but more than anything, I was confused.

I watched enough doctor shows to realize that if you pressed a button on the bed, a nurse would come in. Since I wanted someone to explain what the hell was going on, I found that button and pressed it; moments later, a young female nurse came in carrying a tray of food.

"Hi, Robbie," she said cheerfully. I didn't question how she knew my name. "I have some dinner for you." She pulled out a tray over the hospital bed, setting the food down on top of it. "Is something the matter?"

I was going to ask what I was doing there, but the words got lost on the way to my mouth. "Is there gluten in this?" is what I ended up saying.

"No. When you first arrived here we found your cell phone and called your mother. She told us that you have a mild allergy to gluten. This dinner is Celiac friendly."

I frowned. "Celiac?"

She nodded. "Celiac disease is when someone is unable to digest certain foods due to gluten. Maybe you have it?"

"I don't have Celiac disease," I said indifferently.

"Fair enough. Just be sure to eat, okay? You fainted earlier and I think you may have low blood sugar." Before I could interrupt, she said, "It's sometimes the reason that perfectly healthy people black out. Very rarely, but it still happens sometimes. I'll be back to check on you later. If you need anything, my name is Stacey."

I could see that for myself by looking at her nametag, but I said nothing. I picked at my dinner, not feeling hungry at all. For a while, I still couldn't figure out why I felt like something was wrong. The Celiac friendly dinner was definitely not the most amazing meal I had ever eaten, although I suppose it was nice that they were looking out for me.

The heart monitor continued. There was one beep that was longer than usual when I suddenly realized…

"Cat!" I screamed, throwing down my spoon and jumping out of bed. The heart monitor began to race. I tried to leave, but as soon as I was standing, Stacey was back and running in quickly.

"Robbie, you need to sit down," she told me.

I obliged, but mainly because I felt like I was going to fall over. "Cat," I said, "my friend—where…?"

Stacey looked grim. "So you remember that."

"If you don't tell me where the hell Cat is…"

"Robbie, calm down. This isn't good for you right now, okay? Your body doesn't need any unnecessary stress…"

"Really, because _I'd _say that it _is _pretty necessary. Now, if you don't tell me where Cat is in the next five seconds I swear to God someone will…"

"I'll only tell you if you calm down." Feeling no choice, I relaxed my shoulders a bit, feeling my fist unclench. "Good. Now, if you get worked up again, there's a possibility that we'll have a repeat of your last episode, and we don't want that." She paused, as though trying to figure out where to begin. "The EMTs that brought your friend here had a short conversation with the driver of the semi-truck, Eric Connolly. Mr. Connolly says that the accident was completely his fault. He accidentally tailgated Cat's car and caused it to crash into a pole. Of course, with the force, he had a bit of whiplash, too, and we think that he may have a minor concussion. It was a pretty bad accident."

"Where is…"

"I'm getting to that. When she was loaded into the ambulance, she came to for a little bit. Do you remember that?"

Everything started to come flooding back. Cat's ruined car. The driver of the semi—Mr. Connolly, as Stacey called him—being a bit disoriented, a common side effect of a concussion. An ambulance arriving and putting Cat on the stretcher. Her screams. And…the flat line.

"But then she…she…" I couldn't bring myself to say it. Maybe she was okay. But Stacey's expression was grim. Dear God, if Cat was in the morgue…

"Yes, she went into shock, lost consciousness, and then, she flat lined. Do you remember anything after that?"

I had to shake my head 'no'.

"Well, the EMTs had no choice but to prepare for the worst. They gave her electric shock to try to get her heart started again, so they brought her into the emergency room first thing. You wouldn't leave her side. We had to force you to. As soon as the doors to the E.R. closed, you fainted, so we brought you here to keep an eye on you. It sounds like it's been a rough day for everyone involved."

"But—Cat…is she…"

"After arriving in the E.R., they managed to get her heart started again. She has a weak pulse, but a pulse nonetheless. Right now, she's being evaluated and just got stitches in her forehead. Currently they're doing a CAT scan, and in the morning, an MRI. She'll be staying in the emergency room overnight, but so long as her vitals stay good, she'll be transferred to the ICU."

It finally sunk in that Cat was alive.

* * *

Early that next morning, I woke up in cold sweats again. Checking the clock on my bedside table, it was four A.M. I had apparently fallen asleep soon after Stacey left, which I didn't blame myself for; that day had been rough.

After I had fallen asleep, my mom had stopped by with an overnight bag for me. They were going to release me that day so long as I wasn't fainting on them and as long as I stayed healthy, which meant eating anything that was 'Celiac friendly'. After the doctors demanded a blood test, I proved that I was right: I was not Celiac.

Since it was only four in the morning and I couldn't fall back asleep, I needed something to keep me occupied. I noticed idly that my mother had brought Rex in my overnight bag, but I didn't really care about that at that moment. I drummed my fingers on the side of my bed, bored.

What I wanted to do was see Cat. I wanted to hold her hand and stay with her, even though Stacey had told me that Cat was comatose.

She had also told me that they hoped it'd be nothing to worry about; Cat's heart was getting stronger and her breathing wasn't so labored anymore. They thought that maybe she had just lost consciousness or that her coma was medically induced. But I still worried, even feared, for her life.

I wondered if her mother knew that she was here, or her brother. Did they know that their daughter and sister had been in a car accident, and now was battling for her life (in my mind)? Did they know that she had to have an MRI and CAT scan? Did they have any idea?

I never got to ask these questions, however; later that morning, after the doctors thought I was in good health and my mother had me discharged from the hospital, I requested to stay in the waiting room for Cat. I wanted to be the first person to see her when she woke up, and had put up a fight for this. Finally, the doctors assessed that I wouldn't _really _be doing any harm by sitting with her, so after running the MRI scan, they allowed me into the E.R.

Her bed was one of two that were occupied. The other belonged to the driver of the semi, who was passed out cold in the corner. I sat down next to Cat carefully, as though my presence would cause her to go into shock again. She definitely looked better than the day before, minus the stitches. Although, truth be told, I wasn't sure if I preferred the bleeding or if the stitches were nicer to see. Either way, she wasn't bleeding anymore, which was a positive. Stacey had also told me, however, that they had to give her a blood transfusion since she had lost a lot of her own blood supply.

She had also regained some of her color, and her skin wasn't so clammy anymore. I carefully took hold of one of her hands and found it much softer than it had been the day before. However, she—like me—had broken out in a cold sweat, so that some of her hair clung to her perspiring brow. I carefully brushed the hair out of her eyes, which were gently shut, looking down at her. I was so thankful that she was alive, because quite frankly, I wouldn't know what to do if I lost her.

I got very close to her, remembering something that had happened in Sikowitz's class just a week before the accident—had she really been out of school that long? It seemed so much shorter.

We were in his class and he had to step out for a moment, so another teacher came in to supervise us in his absence. Cat had out a notebook, trying to write a song, but she couldn't come up with a rhyme for her lyrics. Trying to help, I started to harmonize with Cat as she sang to me what little she had, but after a while I realized that our duet had become one person.

"Is something wrong?" I had asked.

She smiled shyly, saying, "I like it when you sing to me."

I frowned. "Really?"

She nodded. "Your voice is…well…you're really talented."

Her words, even a week later in a hospital, echoed in my head: _I like it when you sing to me._ As wonderful of a person Cat was, she liked it when someone like _me_—a class-A loser like me—sang to her. Not completely aware of what I was doing, a quiet melody left my lips.

"_Honey, why you calling me so late?_" I sang. It was the first song that had come to mind, but I knew that Cat liked it. "_It's kind of hard to talk right now. Honey, why you crying? Is everything okay? I gotta whisper because I can't be too loud. Well, my girl's in the next room. Sometimes I wish she was you._"

Before I knew it, the song was over, and Cat still dozed on. Glancing around the room, I realized there wasn't much to see. What I _did _see, however, was that a doctor had left their clipboard with the results of the CAT scan on the table. I picked it up, trying to find something to focus on in the time that Cat was out of it. One thing caught my eye.

_Diagnosis: ICD-9-CM 344.1_

Wondering what that was, I pulled my PearPhone out of my pocket and searched for it. 'ICD-9-CM 344.1' yielded only about five thousand results, but one of the first ones was enough to make me understand. My heart almost stopped when I saw what it was.

"2012 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Code 344.1: Severe or complete loss of motor function in the lower extremities and lower portions of the trunk; paraplegia."

* * *

**Oh ouch bet you did NOT see that coming. Bwahaha, I'm a meanie. :P Okay so um hi. Now you can go ahead and check out my poster/cover/whatever on my profile. It gives a link to the Tumblr post. I really like these cliffhanger endings, btw. :) Okay so um yeah. I don't know if I'll stick to a 'schedule' as to updating this, it may be later today when I post another chapter because I'm impatient :p Lol. Review replies oh sure if you say so~**

**Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: I will take that shiver as a compliment, so thank you. ;) I'm hoping this chapter is satisfactory for you?  
CabbieLoverSAC22: I feel bad for him too oh wait no I don't ;) Heheheh I'm EVIL. And yes as you can tell, Cat is alive.  
Five Pies To The Face: You're quite welcome dear. :) And no screaming please, you're almost making me feel bad. Almost. :\ Is the name from Five Fingers to the Face by the cast of the show?**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	4. Yesterday

My body seemed to go on auto pilot again, because next thing I knew, I was in the main lobby again, feeling pretty ready to collapse again. I tried to will myself to stay standing, but crumpled over in a chair anyway, alone with my thoughts. My mind was a horrible place to be.

Stacey walked out of a room down the hall. Upon seeing her, I stood up on wobbly legs and asked, "Where's the bathroom?"

"Robbie, is everything okay?" Stacey asked me. I guess she noticed that something was wrong.

"I just…"

She looked behind me, seeing that I had just come from the direction of the E.R. and said, "I thought you wanted to be there when your friend woke up."

"I do—I mean, I did—I mean, I just…"

"Is something the matter with her?"

"Well, I suppose not…"

"She didn't flat line again, did she?"

"No, not that."

She suddenly clued in. "I take it you saw her diagnosis." My silence answered that question for her. "I probably should have told you about it beforehand, but I have to admit, even after five years in the medical field, it's kind of hard to break bad news to people. Sometimes, I'll tell a mother that her son or daughter isn't going to make it and she attacks me like I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. I wasn't entirely sure how to break the news to you that your friend is paralyzed from the chest down." Even saying it to me now seemed to be difficult to her.

I was confused. "The CAT scan results said the lower portions of the trunk."

"No, the results said ICD-9-CM 344.1. I take it you looked it up online, since diagnosis codes aren't exactly common knowledge. She's paralyzed from the chest down. What that means is she still has the use of her arms, shoulders, neck, and head, of course, but she has no feeling or use of anything below all of that."

"She's really paralyzed?" I asked. _Oh, God, please don't cry._

"Yes, Robbie."

"There's no chance that there was a mistake?"

"It's pretty hard to make a mistake with a CAT and MRI."

"It's not a misdiagnosis?"

"Not this time." _Too late._

Tears spilled over in my eyes, and I tried to regain composure. That was obviously easier said than done, and my shoulders started to heave harder the more I tried to stay calm.

"Do you need a tissue?" she asked me. I felt like a child and tried to shake my head, but didn't decline when she offered me the box. I dabbed at my eyes with the tissue, trying my hardest not to let more tears come.

"So, is Cat…?" I started, unable to finish the sentence.

It was like Stacey read my mind. "She will be confined to a wheelchair."

"Oh, God…" was all that I could muster. The tears were springing back to my eyes. Cat—my lovely Catherina Emmeline Valentine, who had never done a cruel thing to anyone—was paralyzed. She would never skip, dance, even walk again. And even though Mr. Connolly had that he was completely the one to blame, I still felt like…

"It's all my fault," I whispered.

"I beg your pardon?" Stacey asked.

I shook my head. "It's nothing," I said. Trying to imagine Cat in a wheelchair sent chills down my spine. She wasn't going to be the same person anymore. Alright, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But I knew Cat. She was not going to like the situation when she found out about it. _If _she found out about it. Which made me wonder…

"Does her mother know about this?" I asked, bringing my volume up only slightly.

Stacey shook her head. "Her mother knows that she's here, and we told her about the accident, too. She was in and out of the E.R. last night between the stitches and the CAT scan. She knew it was going to be at least three A.M. before she finished the MRI, so she went home to take care of her son and to get some rest. She should be back here again sometime this morning."

"Okay." I tried to stand, but it felt like my legs were once again in control, because I was still glued to the plastic chair. "I need some time to think this over." I still wouldn't budge.

"You sure you're alright?" Stacey asked.

"I think I just need to…" I fought the temptation to say what I was about to, but it was a losing battle. "…leave."

"Robbie, wait." I wasn't going anywhere, but I obliged regardless. "I know this is all new and foreign to you. Trust me, everyone involved in Cat's life—not just Cat herself—is going to be going through some pretty tough times in what's to come. But I can tell that you really care about her, correct?"

I nodded. "She's my best friend."

"Well, I don't mean to sound judgmental, since that's not really my place, but I think a real best friend wouldn't walk out right now. It's your choice, naturally, but I think that right now, all Cat needs is a friend. When she wakes up from her coma"—I noticed she said 'when' and not 'if', which was soothing—"I don't think she'll want to be alone, especially when I or Doctor Glover has to break the news to her. Make sure that when she wakes up, you call one of us into the E.R., okay?"

"Alright." The thing was that I didn't know who'd be more crushed when the news came up: Me or her. Stacey was right. This was going to be the hardest next few weeks, maybe even months, of my life. My promise to Andre was going to have to be put on hold for a little while. After all that had happened, I didn't think it'd be the right time to say, "Oh, by the way, Cat, now that you're in a wheelchair I'd like to let you know that I'm in love with you." I wasn't quite sure how that would sound in a regular conversation.

"Can you tell me where the bathroom is?" I asked. "I just need…a few minutes."

"Down the hall and to the right. It'll be the second door on the left."

"Thank you." I got up, feeling more and more guilty with every step. It was sort of a mixture of two elements that made me feel so worked up. The first thing that came into play was the fact that I could walk, and odds were, Cat never would again. _Don't think about that, _I chastised myself. _There's nothing you can do about it now._

The second thing was that I still felt like the entire accident could have been avoidable. Cat had said she was talking to me on the phone 'hands free', but then, the number one cause of car accidents was distraction. I also knew it was impossible to properly multi task, so if Cat was on the phone with me, then she wasn't completely focused on driving.

As soon as I got in the bathroom, I locked the door and nearly collapsed onto the sink, grabbing onto it so tight that my knuckles turned as white as the porcelain. I almost literally threw on the cold water, just so that people outside couldn't hear my cries and strangled screams. No matter what, I was never going to forgive myself for what happened.

It was all my fault.

* * *

About an hour later, I still sat in the chair in the E.R. next to Cat's bed, holding her hand. She didn't move at all when I took it, still completely asleep…or, rather, comatose. She was everything I had ever wanted, but I had never deserved her so little for what had happened.

After a long time of silence—during which the driver of the semi-truck was discharged and tried to tell me how sorry he was, saying that he'd pay for all damages—I started singing to her again, thinking that maybe she'd hear my voice and wake up, or smile, or give some sign of life besides breathing.

"_Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it seems they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me. Oh, yesterday came suddenly. Why you had to go, I don't know. You didn't say. I did something wrong, now I long for yesterday._"

For a wild moment, I wondered if she would mind my changing the words, but after thinking about it, I realized that since she was in a coma, she probably wouldn't mind at all.

"_Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday. Why you had to go, I don't know. You didn't say. I did something wrong, now I long for yesterday. Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away. Oh, I believe in yesterday._"

A heavy silence hung in the air after that. I kissed Cat's forehead, thinking about how the song lyrics were so true and yet so totally the opposite of what was going on. Yesterday morning, all of my troubles _did _seem far away. Cat was fine, just at home playing doctor. Yesterday afternoon… My entire world came crashing down.

"Please, Cat," I whispered, hoping she'd open her brown eyes again. "I miss you."

I got up and walked around for a bit, always glancing back at her to make sure everything was okay. She didn't stir once. For the life of me, I could not figure out why a hospital emergency room in a city as crowded as this was so _empty._ Maybe there were other emergency rooms? I made a mental note to ask Stacey later.

An angry buzzing came from my cell phone. I pulled it out of my pocket—the screen said Andre. Wondering, what he wanted, I answered, speaking in a soft voice so as not to disturb Cat, "Hello?"

The volume of Andre's voice made me recoil. "SHE SAID YES!"

Recovering and wincing, I asked, "Who said yes to what?"

"Tori! I asked her out yesterday, you know, after our little agreement since I figured you'd talked to Little Red, and she said she needed some time to think about it. Well, she just called me, and we're going on a date tonight!"

For a moment, I forgot my problems. "That's great, Andre!" I said happily. "Where to?"

"Nozu for sushi. The only reason I'm calling you is because I have something to ask."

"Sure, anything."

"Well, Tori wanted to double, and we considered asking Beck and Jade, but, you know—it's _Jade…_"

"Right," I agreed.

"So do you and Little Red want to meet us there at seven?"

My heart fell. "Oh, uh, Andre…we can't. _She _can't."

"You didn't tell her?"

"Well…not exactly…"

"Why?"

"Cat's not exactly in a position to do…much of anything at the moment."

"What are you talking about?"

I took a deep breath. "Andre…there's been an accident."

"An a—wait, please tell me that this isn't what I saw on the news yesterday. A little red Mustang got rammed into a pole by a truck?"

"Sorry. That's the one."

"Please tell me everything's okay." He sounded just as fearful as I felt. "I heard on the news that the driver of the Mustang is…is…well, that they died."

"Um, well, sort of," I said, the haunting chill of the flat line ringing in my ears. "I mean, she flat lined, but they managed to bring her back. And now…she's in a coma."

There was a silence. "Is she going to be okay?"

Tears started forming in my eyes again. "She can't… She won't…" I sighed. "She's paralyzed."

"You're kidding."

I shook my head. "From the chest down."

"She's going to be…in a wheelchair?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oh, man." I imagined him shaking his head. "Well, I'll let Tori know, okay? Thanks anyway, Rob."

"Sure thing. Thanks for the offer."

"Anytime." Awkwardly, we both hung up, and I sighed, staring at the ceiling and wondering, _Why?_

Again, I retook my position by Cat's bedside. She was oblivious to my presence yet again. I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure.

I put my mouth next to her ear, whispering, "Come on, Cat. I know you're in there." It sounded silly, but I kept talking regardless. "I know you can do this. Please. Look at me."

As though she understood exactly what I was trying to say, she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, the first sign of life she had given other than breathing in the past hour or so. I was assuming it was the first sign of life she had given since they had gotten her heart restarted, too. My fingers were crossed on my lap, hoping beyond hope that…

She opened her eyes, then almost immediately shut them again at the bright light. They opened again slowly, my heart racing in what felt like the region of my throat. Slowly, she took her hand from my grasp, pushed herself up with her arms, and turned her head, looking at me. Momentary confusion crossed her face, then she smiled. "Are we having a sleepover?" she asked.

I fought the temptation to smile. Now was definitely not the time to be joking. "Hey," I whispered, "long time no see."

"I know, right? It's been such a long week. Charlie's really sick. So I think you should probably go home soon unless you want to get strep throat."

She thought she was in her bedroom. "Cat, baby," I said without thinking, but she didn't notice my word choice, "you're—you're not at home."

"Where am I?"

"You're—you're in the emergency room."

She frowned. "Well, I guess that explains the IV in my arm, huh?" she said. Again, it took a great effort not to laugh. Even when she had been glaring death in the face yesterday, she managed to stay calm now. "What happened?"

"You—you were in a car accident yesterday. Your car was completely ruined."

"What?"

I sighed. "A semi-truck hit your Mustang. As if that wasn't bad enough, I guess you were trying to get out of the way or something—I don't know, I wasn't there—but you collided into a pole. You were scratched up pretty bad. You…when they put you in the ambulance…you flat lined."

"You mean my heart stopped?"

I nodded.

"That sounds bad."

"No kidding."

"Well, I guess that explains why I'm in so much pain. But only my neck and shoulders hurt, not anything below that. I guess I have whiplash or something." My heart suddenly sank. Soon, I'd have to tell her. I suddenly remembered the fact that Stacey had told me to call her when Cat woke up, but I didn't think that that moment was the proper time.

"Cat…" I tried to say in a gentle tone.

"Hey, sorry to be so blunt, but I think I have to pee. Where's the bathroom?"

"Cat, listen…"

"Okay, I'll find it myself." Heartbreakingly, she tried to pull her legs over the side of the bed and found that they wouldn't move. Mild confusion crossed her face, then it was replaced with horror. "What's going on?" she asked frantically. "Why can't I…" She started getting afraid; it was apparent in her voice. Suddenly, she started to cry. "Robbie, why won't my legs move? What's going on?"

"Cat…"

"Robbie, I can't feel my legs! What's going on?" she repeated.

"Cat, listen."

Before I could explain, she frantically started pressing the call button for the doctor several times in a row. "I can't move my legs," she kept gasping.

"Cat, Cat, Cat, calm down…"

"Tell me what's going on!" she snapped.

I sighed. I suddenly understood what Stacey meant: This was not going to be easy for me. "Cat, listen to me. You need to calm down, okay? Take a deep breath." She took several deep breathes, following my example. "Good. Now listen to me. Yesterday, the car accident was pretty bad. I was sure that I lost you. When you got here, they found out, well…" There was no beating around the bush anymore. "Cat, honey, you're paralyzed from the chest down."

"No," she gasped. "No, that's not possible."

"Cat."

"You're lying," she gasped again, suddenly hitting my chest with every thought. "You're not—just—tell me…" When I didn't respond to anything that she said, she started crying again. She must have realized that I was not making this up and suddenly took her hands off my chest. I looked at her with a grim expression on my face. As Stacey and who I assumed was Doctor Glover arrived, she asked me, tears forming in her brown eyes once more, "Will I ever walk again, Robbie?"

Sadly, I could only muster one word.

* * *

**Although I cleared it up in this chapter, I got some reviews asking what the diagnosis code meant, so I'll explain briefly. Paraplegia is the loss of function in two limbs, most commonly the legs. Someone who dose lose function of two of the limbs is called a paraplegic. The trunk is another word for your torso, so everything from below your neck that isn't your limbs (arms or legs) is your trunk. Since Cat lost the function of her lower limbs and trunk, that means she is paralyzed from the chest down and can't move her legs. And yes, it's permanent. So moving on from that, I'd like to thank EVERYONE that has reviewed, favourited, or alerted this story or myself. It's such a huge honor! I am completely flattered at all the emails I'm getting :p Usually I hate emails from FF, but when I opened my email account this morning, my first thought was, "WHAAAAAAAAAAT". So thank you, thank you, thank you! :)**

**Digidestendangel: I honestly feel like I'm updating this too often, but here you go. :)  
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: I was in a hospital when I was five, so I remember bits and pieces of the experience. I'm also a science junkie and have type one diabetes, so I know a lot about medical practices. What I don't know I just look up online.  
Ariana Fan XD: I know! :p I will.  
CCougar427098: Awww :3 Thank you!  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Hopefully, this chapter sorted that out for you.  
Five Pies To The Face: Yes I do like muffins :p Hopefully this answers your questions xD  
IHadToChangeMyPennameSoThere: I think I'm overly dramatic sometimes :p  
Binnie-Bunny: Thank you! :)**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	5. What Hurts the Most

"No."

The word cut through the silence like a knife. Cat looked absolutely horrified, even more scared than she had been just seconds before. Stacey and the doctor pulled up two chairs beside her bed, sitting down. Again, Stacey offered a box of tissues. Unlike when she offered them to me, however, Cat refused, sobbing so hard that her entire body shook, even though she no longer had use of the majority of it.

I laid a comforting hand on her back, trying my best not to cry with her. It was the most emotionally trying day of my life. "It's alright," I whispered, though I couldn't see how anything would _ever _be alright again. I tried to imagine Cat in a wheelchair, nearly getting chills at the idea. How was she ever going to be okay?

She suddenly fell onto my shoulder in tears, and I stroked her hair, holding her in my arms. She felt so broken, so damaged. It was as though everything that could have ever gone wrong had. We stayed like that for a long time, then Stacey stood because she had to go somewhere else "for an emergency". The doctor stayed behind, introducing himself as Doctor Glover. He told Cat a bit about her injury. Basically, he said that the traumatic force of the wreck caused her spine to be pretty beat up, so much so that it stopped working below her chest. Since the spinal cord is used to send messages to the rest of the body, none of these messages could go past her chest, and thus, she was paralyzed from the chest down.

"But if we're being honest," the doctor said, "you actually got very lucky indeed. From what I've seen of the accident, you could have broken your neck."

I knew to Cat, that didn't seem much better, but I very nearly sighed in relief at the idea of losing Cat forever. Yes, even though it was difficult, I would have taken a paralyzed Cat over losing her anyday.

"Can I have a while to be alone?" Cat asked the doctor, trying her best to calm her tears.

"Absolutely," he said, standing. "I'll be back later to check up on you, though, and then we'll see about moving you to the ICU."

I started to rise, too, but Cat grabbed onto my hand. The fearful look in her eyes was heartbreaking. "Sit next to me?" she asked me, almost begging or pleading.

I carefully picked her up, setting her down again on the end of the bed and sitting on it with her. Once I lied down, she turned her body (though it took some effort) towards me. She surprised me by laying her head across my chest. "You're not leaving anytime soon, right?"

"Of course not," I promised. "I'm staying right here."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"For what?"

"For putting you through this."

I could have laughed at the statement. "Cat, don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault that this happened. No one could have seen this coming. What are you apologizing to me for?" I finished.

"Because. Do you _really _want to be friends with a cripple?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I said. "Yes, you're technically crippled now. But you're not _a _cripple. Don't let this injury define who you are."

"I don't know what I'm going to do now," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Hollywood Arts is two stories, which is fine because there's an elevator. But my house is two stories, too, and there's not an elevator there. If I can't even move around with a wheelchair, how am I supposed to get upstairs?"

That I didn't have an answer for. "I don't know, Cat," I said. "I just don't know."

"I'm not going to have someone carry me around my house."

Nervously, I smiled at her. "Well, I didn't expect that you would, to be quite honest. We'll figure something out, okay? Soon, you'll be back at school like nothing ever happened, I promise."

* * *

A little while later, her mother showed up with a wheelchair she had bought for Cat. It wasn't an ordinary chair, I noticed. The seat and metal were purple, with gray wheels. The seat wasn't just solid purple, however; it was plaid and also featured hints of pink and white.

With quite a bit of help from me and the doctor, Cat managed to get herself into the chair. Upstairs was a doctor specializing in spinal cord injuries who was going to help Cat figure out how to get herself around. We loaded her into an elevator and she sat there with a scared expression on her face, grabbing hold of my hand. I gave hers a gentle squeeze, knowing fully well how terrified she must have felt. When the doors opened, I was given the task of pushing her wheelchair for her, since the doctors wanted Doctor Elizabeth Montgomery to see her do it for herself for the first time.

The floor we were on was practically deserted, other than Doctor Montgomery waiting for us. "Hi, you must be Cat," she said warmly, offering her an extended hand. "I'll be your doctor."

"Hello," Cat said in a timid voice. I had never seen her that way before.

"I see you've got a support team," she said, looking at Cat's mother and myself. "Wonderful, that's perfect. Now, Cat, I'll be honest with you. This is probably a scary thing for you and that's perfectly fine. I don't expect you to come into this with a big smile plastered on your face. In fact, if you did, I'd probably ask them to do another MRI just to make sure there wasn't brain damage."

I tried my hardest not to laugh. To me, this woman should have been a therapist or a psychologist, not a doctor, since every word that left her mouth was almost as though it was written for her. She sounded like she truly cared about Cat, without sugarcoating the information or making it too blunt. And the joke at the end was obviously intended to lift her spirit as well.

"Now, some of this will be easy and some will be hard, okay?" she asked. Cat had no choice but to nod. "I was in the same boat you were a few years back, too. That's what made me want to enter this field."

"What happened?" Cat asked nervously.

"I had a surgery on my knee after an accident riding my bike. I was told that I could just use crutches but it seemed like the more I stood, the more pain I was in. While I was recovering, I was in a wheelchair for about four months. I still have my chair at home somewhere, too, just in case."

"Oh," Cat said. It was obvious from her voice she was torn between sympathy and jealousy.

Doctor Montgomery quickly changed the subject. "Like I said, this will be easy at times and then it will progressively get more and more difficult. The easy stuff is figuring out how the brakes work and how to move the footrests. The brakes are these levers right here"—she pointed at two purple bars with a black, almost cushion like, substance on top—"and if you use them together, your chair won't move. If you just want to come to a stop, really, all you have to do is grab onto the wheels or stop pushing yourself. I recommend using the brakes, say, when you're in class or at a movie theater, so you don't move. If you use only one brake, you can move one side only." She grabbed onto one of the levers, instructing Cat to do so on the other side. "Just push down on it and it will be activated." They did that, then she told me, "Er—Robbie, is it?"

"Yes," I said.

"Try to push Cat forward."

I hopped up off the chair I was in, grabbing hold of the handles. She wouldn't budge.

"Your brakes are functioning perfectly," Doctor Montgomery told her. "Now, just pull back on those same levers and you'll be able to move again."

She did so; I managed to move her forward.

"Great," Doctor Montgomery said, smiling a mile a minute. "Excellent!"

Next, Doctor Montgomery went over how to get the footrests on Cat's chair to swing outward, saying that this was a feature that usually people with partial mobility used to stand. However, she also said that it could be useful, perhaps, for Cat to get in and out of the chair. That was pretty simple too. Finally, they moved onto the most important part of using the chair: Movement.

"Okay, what you're going to do is grab onto the rails on the side of the chair, or the tires themselves, and come towards me," Doctor Montgomery said, walking down the hallway a little bit. "Now, don't get too frustrated if you don't catch on right away, okay? It does take some practice sometimes."

She suddenly looked up at me. I placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Go on," I encouraged quietly. "You can do it."

Cat grabbed onto the wheels of her chair and went in all sorts of different directions. I tried not to let my sighs be heard each time. "It'll take some time," Doctor Montgomery assured us. "I don't expect you to be a wheelchair racer anytime in the near future."

After a while, Cat sort of managed to go in a straight line, but it took a very, very long time. "Okay, now that you've handled that much, can you see if you can apply the brakes with your hands instead of just allowing yourself to stop?"

It was almost as though they were testing her. I fidgeted uncomfortably against the wall I was leaning against, hoping it'd all be over soon. This was getting to be too much for me. I had to avert my focus to something else, but looked up when I heard Cat groaning in frustration. She had apparently figured out how to brake without using the actual brakes, but it sounded like it hurt.

"Do you want to try again?" Doctor Montgomery asked. Cat nodded bitterly, turning around and grabbing the wheels of her chair quickly.

And suddenly, she put her hands to her eyes, tears forming quickly.

* * *

**HI EVERYONE PROBABLY NO UPDATE TOMORROW BECAUSE I HAVE MY FINAL SWIM MEET OF THE YEAR AND IT'S ALL DAY KTHX. Okay so hi. Um I don't know what to say here except please let me know if you like the show Legends of the Hidden Temple because I may have a job for you if you do :p thanks for reviewing again!**

**CabbieLoverSAC22: Aren't I so good at being dramatic? xP  
IHadToChangeMyPennameSoThere: Haha, thanks? How is he cool, if you don't mind my asking?  
JoshMcKim: Thank you so much! :D I'm actually writing a novel right now so that compliment just literally made my day. ****:)**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	6. All You Need is Love

"Cat, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly, trying to sound soothing.

"I need a moment," she told Doctor Montgomery, taking off down the hallway. I couldn't help but notice that it looked difficult for her, so I stood. "Do you want me to see if everything's okay?" I asked her mother.

She nodded. "I think she'll listen to you."

"Cat," I said upon arriving where she had stopped. Apparently, since we were right outside a door, she hadn't figured out how to open a door while in a wheelchair. I placed a hand on her shoulder, getting down to eye level with her. "Are you okay, Cat?"

"This is too difficult," she sobbed.

"What's difficult?"

"Everything!" she said. "Trying to remember all of this, trying to get _used _to all of this… And this hurts, trying to stop myself with my hands. It's like when you fall down or something and use your hands to break your fall." While she was talking, she was wringing her hands in her lap. I could tell she was working on not crying.

"Cat, listen," I said. "You heard the doctor. Not all of this is going to be easy, okay? I know that this must be so, so hard on you. Trust me, it's hard for me too. Maybe not in the same way that it's hard for you, but you have to believe me, it hurts me to see you like this, because…" I was going to say it, let everything be out in the open. But for some reason, I couldn't finish the sentence.

"Because what…?" Cat asked, looking at me with a very confused look on her face.

Needing something to say, I settled on, "Because no one should have to go through this much in such a short amount of time. And you're my best friend, okay?"

She let that sink in, then said, "Thanks for staying with me."

"No problem. Now, since you sort of need to be mobile, what do you say we give it another try?"

"Alright," Cat said, taking the brakes off her chair. Before she could do anything else, I stood and grabbed the handles for her, turning her around and taking her in the direction of Doctor Montgomery and her mother.

* * *

Monday morning came around faster than I would have liked. I suddenly remembered I had not only neglected reading for my English class, but also with trying to come up with an excuse as to why I didn't have my journal completed.

_Okay, maybe you'll get lucky,_ I tried to tell myself, getting dressed. But looking back at what had happened in just a short amount of time that weekend, the odds of me 'getting lucky' were slim to none.

That day at school without Cat was brutal. I almost waited for her at her locker before realizing that she probably wasn't going to be at school for another week, maybe two weeks. Glumly, I walked back to my own locker, next to which stood Tori and Andre, holding hands, apparently waiting for me. Tori looked like she was ready to cry.

"Robbie, is it true?" she asked me.

"Is what true?" I asked.

"Don't act like you don't know," Andre said. "We're talking about…the accident."

"Oh." I opened my locker, grabbing my English journal and hoping that in some miracle I could come up with something that would give me at least a C. "Yes, it's true. Cat was in a car accident on Friday."

"But what about…" Tori started, but I interrupted her.

"Yes, she's paralyzed." I closed my locker, trying very hard to stay calm.

"How bad is it?" Tori asked.

"Chest down," I said. "She still has the use of her arms, shoulders, and all of that, but she has no feeling of the rest of her body."

"Is it…permanent?"

I nodded. "She has to use a wheelchair."

Tori looked crushed. "Are you sure there's no…"

"That kind of research is years away from being usable," I said. "Spinal cord injury treatments may be making a ton of advancements, but nothing in the immediate future. It will be a very long time before they have anything." I looked at my watch. "First period is about to start. We should probably go."

"I just can't believe it," Tori said in disbelief. "How's Cat taking this?"

"It's hard," I said. "She's been really shook up by it, so don't say anything really negative to her, okay?"

"You don't have to worry about us…" Andre said. "It's Trina and Jade you have to keep an eye on."

"I doubt they'll say anything negative on purpose," I said. "But I agree."

The bell rang. We walked to class in silence, with Tori shaking her head the entire time in disbelief. When Sikowitz started talking, he seemed very, very dismal.

Finally addressing it, he said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news to report."

"There's no cure for male pattern baldness?" Jade asked.

Sikowitz gave her an angry look for a second, then said, "I'm sure some of you may have noticed an absence in this class."

My heart fell. I knew exactly what was to come.

"I'm also sure some of you may have heard of a car accident that happened on Friday on the corner of Schneider's Bakery and Catania's Pharmacy. I received a phone call this morning. Cat was in that car accident on Friday."

"Is she okay?" Beck asked.

"Well, depending on what you mean by 'okay', yes and no," Sikowitz said. "She's alive, in stable condition, and she doesn't seem to have any minor injuries. However…Cat is now paralyzed from the chest down."

He let that sink in, looking just as distressed as the rest of us.

"She can't walk?" Jade asked.

"No," he said. "She will be confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of her life."

I hated that word, 'confined'. It made it sound like Cat was literally stuck to the chair all the time, when that wasn't true. With a bit of help, she could get in and out of it. And even though what I had told Tori didn't exactly scream 'optimism', there might have been hope that one day, Cat would walk again.

"So when Cat comes back," he continued, "I _do not _want any negative comments of any kind. There will be no name calling, nothing that suggests anything other than normalcy. If anything, I want you to act like nothing happened. I'm alright with you offering some assistance, but nothing else. I doubt it will be an issue with high school students, but if I hear anything of the sort, there will be consequences." He glanced around at us, then continued on with one of his stories. Pretty much everyone started to zone out, myself included.

I wondered where Cat was, if she was at home or still in the ICU, and how she was doing and adjusting. I had missed her so much, I was starting to go insane.

That day at lunch, I talked with her on the phone almost the entire time, and we made plans for me to go over to her house that Friday to spend some time with her. We hadn't really spent much time together, unless you counted the hospital stay, much in the past few weeks, so she had requested that I came over to watch a movie with her.

"Sounds like someone has a date Friday," Jade said.

"Not really," I said back. "We're just friends."

"Whatever you say," she said.

"Don't you think that you should just…tell her?" Andre asked me when we were alone.

"Not now," I said back. "She just got into a car accident and will never walk again. I think she needs time to adjust before I break _this _to her."

"You make it sound like you have a death wish or something."

"Well, if I say something too early, I might."

That Friday, when I got to her house, she had settled herself (probably with some help) on her living room couch with her legs crossed and a blanket around her. Her wheelchair stood a few feet to the side, with the footrests turned out the way that Doctor Montgomery had taught her. "Hi, Robbie," she said excitedly. Like nothing had changed.

"Hey, Cat," I said warmly. "What are we watching?" I asked.

"It's on the DVD player," she pointed. "I hope you don't mind…"

I picked up a copy of _The Lion King, _which was very loved; the case was falling apart and the plastic cover was scratched up. "Of course not," I said. "I love this movie." I put it in the DVD player for her and took a spot next to her on the couch.

"It's my favorite," she told me. That, I didn't find hard to believe. "I've been watching Disney movies ever since Sunday," she told me, smiling an embarrassed smile. "Especially the musicals. I can't help but sing along with them. I got home on Wednesday and Charlie asked me if I needed anything, so the first thing I told him to do was help me on the couch and put on _Peter Pan_." She blushed.

I laughed. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that," I said. "These films are timeless." Glancing at the DVD player, she definitely had a stack of Disney movies, almost like a collection, that she had been watching. This included _Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Great Mouse Detective, Lilo and Stitch, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo, Aladdin, Mulan, The Little Mermaid,_ and others.

"How do you have time to watch all of these?" I asked incredulously.

"I haven't been going to school. I've pretty much just sat here the entire time I've been home. And I'm not going to lie, I stay up late sometimes just having marathons. I've watched _The Little Mermaid _seven times since the accident," she told me.

"Okay, now _that's _weird," I teased.

"Oh, shut up. I haven't seen _The Lion King _once in months."

"Months? Oh, how terrible, just _how _did you survive…"

She rolled her eyes, hugging her blanket around her tighter. She wasn't kidding when she said she liked to sing along with the movies; she knew every word to I Just Can't Wait to be King. After a bit of pleading, she also convinced me to sing along with her when Hakuna Matata played. But the worst part of the day was when Mufasa was killed. Cat got very emotional, grabbing onto me for support.

"And this is a kid's movie?" I asked playfully once the tears stopped.

"I swear," she said back. "This is too emotionally trying for _high school _students."

I almost reconsidered what I had told Andre when she started getting drowsy. Perhaps it was the fact that she only had her arms to support herself, but soon, she was slumping over sideways, trying to keep herself upright. The final time she attempted this, she crashed and burned, falling over onto me. "I'm sorry!" she said, giggling.

"It's not your fault," I said, hoping beyond hope that she didn't feel how fast my heart was beating in my chest, or the nervous butterflies I got in my stomach just from her touch.

The movie was over, and I was getting ready to leave. Because she was going to sleep on her couch to avoid going up the stairs, Cat asked if I would help arrange her into a position that would be comfortable to sleep in, then asked me to put in _Tarzan _before I left. I did so gladly, then went to hug her good-bye. Crouching on the ground, I said, "Everyone misses you at school."

"I miss everyone, too," she said back. "Especially you. I've missed seeing you."

"You've seen me," I reminded.

"Not every day."

"That sounds so tragic," I said, trying to tease her. It was a hit and a miss.

"Thank you for staying with me."

"No problem at all."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I hugged her back as she rested her head on my chest. When I finally pulled away from her, she kissed my cheek.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For being such a great friend," she said back, smiling. "Thank you. For everything."

"Not a problem at all. I'll see you later."

"Okay. Bye, Robbie."

"Good night, Cat."

As I walked out the door, I felt it shut behind me and I leaned against it, sighing. I was so close and yet so far away from having what I had wanted most in the entire world, Cat Valentine. My skin still burned from where her lips had touched it.

This had to be love.

* * *

**Oh yay I updated ^.^ Okay a little blurb about me real quick. I'm a HORRIBLE swimmer even though I've been doing it for nine years now, but yesterday I won a race :D I mean I was like twelfth overall out of like sixteen, lol, but in my individual race, I got first by half a second :D it was a horrible race for me other than that though because I kept running into the lane lines, turned over to do a flip turn too early (it was backstroke), and reacted to the starter's whistle later than everyone else _ My team got fourth out of seventh overall too, which is great, because we used to get sixth out of six all the time :p (we recently added a team to the league). Okay anyway moving on. Yay Cabbie smut at the end ^.^ I'm probably going to just keep adding Cabbie fluff in here, with a teensy bit of drama, but I just love this couple so much and yesterday at the meet, my friend and I worked out the ending to this which is going to be OVERLY DRAMATIC HEHEHE. Yay~ Please review again, it means the world to me.**

**CCougar427098: Robbie pretty much crushed your dreams of that miracle, didn't he? xP And thanks! :)  
CabbieLoverSAC22: I could so imagine Tori saying something stupid, bwahaha xP Thanks? Haha :3  
Five Pies To The Face: Awww :/ I'm sorry :'( Btw, ever since you started reviewing this, I have had Five Fingers to the Face stuck in my head like, all the time xD**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	7. Suddenly I See

**Two Months Later**

I walked in late to the meeting for Prome committee, which was only composed of six people: Andre, Tori, Beck, Jade, Sinjin, and myself. The Prome had been such a big hit last year that Tori and Andre had decided to do it again this year. They had once joked that it would probably become a Hollywood Arts tradition even after we had all graduated.

"About time you showed up," Jade said.

"Sorry," I said, setting my backpack down. "I was helping Cat with something."

Life had almost fallen into a routine. Cat had come back to school, and people were practically bending over backwards trying to help her. Either she didn't notice or she wasn't bothered by it, because she acted like this was usual behavior from everyone. Even Jade occasionally worked past her rough exterior and helped her with things.

"You seem to be doing that a lot," Jade said.

"Yeah, well," I said, shrugging. I took a seat between Beck and Sinjin, the only available chair left in the circle. "Did I miss anything?"

"We just decided that the date for Prome is going to be in two weeks," Tori said. "Not next Friday, but the following one."

"Alright," I said, scribbling that down on a piece of paper. Andre had asked if I would take notes so that they would have a reference to go off of later.

"So, do we have any ideas for a theme?" Tori asked, looking around at us.

"Balloons," Sinjin said.

There was an awkward pause. "Any ideas that aren't weird and kind of bizarre?" Tori asked.

"Wait, I've got another one," Sinjin said. I braced myself for something bizarre, yet again. "Cats."

"Cats?" Jade repeated.

"Yeah, we could hang string from everywhere and have the scent of catnip blown through the Prome and have giant pictures of mice everywhere."

"Remind me again why we invited him here," Andre whispered to Tori.

"It was either him or Trina," Tori said back, "and we need a DJ."

Ultimately, we decided on the theme 'Under the Sea' (which Tori came up with after Jade grew so angry at Sinjin that she threatened to drown him). After settling a few more things, the meeting came to an abrupt end. As I was gathering up my stuff, Tori stopped me.

"How are things with Cat?" she asked.

"Fine," I said. "You were absolutely right about getting her gloves the other day. She loves them. I haven't seen her take them off once." A while back, Cat had been in a bit of a slum, so I said I wanted to get her something to lift her spirits, and Tori suggested getting her gloves for her wheelchair, so that she didn't scratch up her hands. I had found a pair of fingerless BMX gloves at a store that were bright pink and black, and had given them to her the next day. She hadn't taken them off since.

"So, do you have a date tonight?" Tori asked.

"Well, she asked if I wanted to come over and watch a movie again, but nothing special."

"Oh, come _on, _Robbie, will you clue in?" she asked.

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Am I the only one that sees something's going on with you two? She's invited you over _every _Friday to watch movies with her, and for the most part, you've showed up for those movie dates."

"Because she's my _friend,_" I said, putting extra emphasis on 'friend'. "We're _just _friends. Besides, it's the least I can do. She very rarely leaves the house anymore, so I think this is her idea of being social."

"Robbie, are you clueless?" Jade asked. I had no idea that she was still there, so she frightened me with her sudden speech. "Cat's totally in love with you."

"She is not!"

"She wants you at her house every Friday, if she needs help with anything you're always the first person that she asks for, she gets all…Cat like when you're around."

"What do you mean she gets 'Cat like'?" I asked.

"Ever since the accident, she doesn't get happy and giddy like she used to very easily. Haven't you noticed that?" I shook my head 'no'. "But whenever _you're _around, she's completely herself. And I've noticed that you couldn't be happier whenever you're around her. So tell me. Are you in love with Cat?"

The only person from Prome committee who was no longer there was Sinjin, who had left pretty much as soon as the meeting was over to try to escape Jade. The remaining people all suddenly froze, listening intently.

"That's kind of a personal question, isn't it?" I asked, the only response I could think of that wouldn't cause the annoying feeling in my stomach that I usually got whenever I thought about Cat. I wasn't sure if I liked that feeling or not, which could only be described as butterflies.

"Oh, come _on!_" Andre said, looking and sounding very angry. "We've had this conversation enough! Just tell Cat already how you feel!"

"What's the worst that can happen?" Beck agreed.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship," I said.

"Wait, I have an idea," Tori said. "Okay, so Andre pretty much just admitted for you that you like Cat, which is absolutely adorable, I might add. So since Prome is coming up, why don't you just ask her to go with you? If she gets freaked out by the idea, you can just say you want to go as friends, but if she gets all excited and…'Cat like', then you can tell her how you really feel. Isn't that easy?"

"Only one problem," Beck said. "How is Cat supposed to go to Prome if she's in a wheelchair?"

A heavy silence hung in the air once Beck pointed this out. Although Tori had good intentions, that was a major flaw in her plan. Cat couldn't move any part of her torso and her legs; how was she supposed to have a good time at Prome, and with me, no less?

"I'll think about it," I said, turning to the door and leaving.

* * *

The six of us (Tori, Andre, Jade, Beck, Cat, and I) had plans to go to Andre's house that Saturday to 'hang out', something we hadn't really done since Cat's accident. Unfortunately, Andre's plans included going in his pool to swim, which was something that worried me about Cat.

"I really want to do it," she said suddenly when we were outside.

We all turned to look at her.

"What?" I asked.

"I want to swim with you guys," she said.

We were all shocked by the statement.

"Are you sure?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, I want to do it," she said. "It's hot out here. I mean, I could just sit on the steps or something, but I really want to do it." She was already wearing a bikini and was looking antsier by the second.

"Alright," I said. Immediately, Andre and I were by her side.

"Are you sure _you_ can do this?" she asked us, obviously sounding concerned.

"Yeah, of course," Andre said jokingly. "We're big, strong guys."

From behind us, I could hear Jade laugh, but I ignored it.

Cat practically threw off the seatbelt on her wheelchair as we began lifting her up and carrying her into the water. We tried our absolute best to be careful, succeeding as we lowered her into the pool gently.

"You sure you can handle this?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said, using her arms to prop herself up and smiling. "Thank you!"

Even though she didn't ask for it, I sat next to her, just to be sure that nothing bad happened while we were there. There was a lot of laughter, talking, and a bit of arguing from Beck and Jade (as usual). As things started settling down a bit, Andre suddenly said, "While everyone's here…Tori, I have something I'd like to ask you."

"What is it, Andre?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Would you like to go to Prome with me?"

"Oh, my gosh," she said, "absolutely!"

"Oh my gosh!" Cat repeated, suddenly letting go of the step she was sitting on. If I hadn't responded quickly, she would have been underwater.

"Cat, are you okay?" I asked when she recovered.

"Yeah," she said.

"You sure?" Jade asked.

She nodded in response. "But did you hear that? Andre just asked Tori to go to Prome with him!"

Tori laughed. "Yeah, he did," she said happily. When Cat wasn't looking, Andre shot me a glance that said it all: _Tell her._ I shook my head back in response.

Cat started to lean into me later, seeing as I hadn't let her go since the incident with Andre and Tori. I was personally glad for any reason for her to get close to me.

Soon, the sun was setting and we all had to go home. Jade and Beck left in his car, while Tori went upstairs to change since she and Andre had yet another date (Andre tried once again to convince me to double date with them, but since I knew that Cat had to be home, I adamantly refused). Soon, Cat, too was ready to go, and I took her outside to my own car.

Unlike her mother's car, which she had bought only following the accident, my car was not wheelchair accessible. The process of getting Cat in it was easier said than done. First, I had to push down the seats in the back, then physically pick up Cat and put her in the front passenger's seat. After that, I could pull her wheelchair into the back, where the seats were pushed down, to avoid having to fold it.

After we got everything situated, I started the car, driving towards Cat's house. It was only about a three minute drive, but I wanted it to last an eternity. In thinking so, I missed a turn on purpose, apologized, and then had to alter the route, just to make it last longer. Cat didn't seem to mind; in fact, she turned up the radio when this happened, going off into her own little world.

Again, I thought of the incident in Andre's pool, about how perfectly Cat had folded against my body when she leaned on me for support, and how Andre and I had to carry her into the pool and out again when it was time to leave, and how everyone was practically begging me to ask her to Prome…

And suddenly, I had an idea of how to make that work.

* * *

**Hi hi hi ^.^ Here I am, once again ~lame Victorious joke HOLLA~ In case you haven't figured it out, the three ships in this are pretty much Tandre, Cabbie, and Bade. So um yeah :p I had my swim banquet yesterday and was REALLY surprised to hear that I was one of 25 high point winners out of roughly 125 swimmers. This was really just surprising since I'm really slow :p My time in a fifty freestyle is 36 seconds, while the average for my age group is only around thirty, and you do not even want to get me started on back and breaststroke xD I'm putting up a picture later on my InstaGram of my trophy and stuff if anyone wants to see it (username hatterofmadness. Warning: There are a lot of pictures of my cat). Anyway enough about me. Hi hi. I was completely honored today because I was on the Victorious wikia page and on the Cabbie page, there's a list of fanfics about Cabbie. I was completely flattered because, 1. All We Know is Falling was listed there, 2. Catastrophe was listed there, and 3. I was listed under Cabbie fanfic authors. I'm going to assume one of my readers here added me to that (I actually saw a comment from you, Jmags), so thank you so much! :)**

**Fives Pies To The Face: I know right? That song was kind of random, but awesome :p I cry at movies wayyy too easily, lol, I can't even compile a list xD  
CCougar427098: Fingers crossed! And thanks for the cute comment :)  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Thank you! :) I'm not very good at writing Jade, lol, that's really the only reason why she didn't really comment on Cat's condition.  
5FingersToTheCat: Thank you! :D**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	8. A Thousand Years

I stayed up all night that night, thinking over a million times my plan. I wondered if it was crazy to go through with, but I realized I had to face my fear. The text messages that came streaming in that night and the next day seemed to confirm my thoughts.

Andre: _Are you gonna tell her?  
_Tori: _PLEASE ask Cat to prome!  
_Beck: _I have faith in you, man. Ask her out.  
_Jade: _If you break Cat's heart I'll break something of yours. Nothing personal.  
_Tori: _Please? :(  
_Andre: _Are you gonna ask her? Again?  
_Beck: _Andre told me to ask you if you're going to talk to Cat.  
_Cat: _Hi Robbie! :D Thanks for everything at Andre's house yesterday. You're the best friend ever! Xoxo_

Seeing that message from Cat had me making up my mind. I took my wallet out of my backpack, found fifteen dollars, and went outside and got on my bike, going towards the grocery store. I knew exactly what I had to do at that moment.

* * *

The school day rushed by in a blur. Finally, it was the end of the day. Andre and I walked through the halls together, and we were talking about something that had happened in Sikowitz's class—rather, Andre talked and I pretended to take an interest. Really, I was preoccupied when we reached the lockers. I opened my locker, finally having gotten it to work with me. Andre, who stood next to me, raised his eyebrow in interest when he saw the contents.

"A rose?" he asked.

I turned away, blushing. "Yeah," I said.

"Is that for...?"

"It's for Cat," I said, rubbing the back of my neck and nodding. "I, well... I want to ask her to go to Prome with me."

Andre frowned. His next words seemed to be hard for him to say to me, and when he did speak, it seemed to confirm that notion. "Not to be rude, Rob, but I'm starting to agree with Beck. I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

I frowned, too. "Why not?"

"Well, Cat's paralyzed. How are you gonna dance with her?"

"That's not really important. I've found a way."

"Are you sure…"

"Andre, I really need to do this," I said. "I know that I've made some dumb mistakes before, especially when it comes to my lack of a love life, but I've been thinking about this for a long time. I've realized this weekend that you and everyone else is right. I need to admit my feelings to Cat before it's too late. I don't want to have a repeat of what happened with Tug last year. I'm going to do this."

He sighed. "Alright. Good luck with your suicide mission."

"Ha, ha." I rolled my eyes.

I walked off towards Cat's locker. Typically, I was there to help her reach the stuff that she couldn't, or just to help her with anything (once she had asked me if I could rub her shoulders for her, since she was tired from literally pushing herself around all the time), but due to my conversation with Andre, Tori had beat me to it. They were talking about something that I couldn't quite make out, and I started walking towards them, but froze hearing what they were talking about.

"Are you still going to Prome with Andre?" Cat asked. They had had a bit of a fight the day before, and Cat hadn't stopped texting me, saying she was worried about them.

Tori smiled guiltily. "Yeah," she said. "He asked me to go with him again today at lunch."

"That's so sweet. You two are cute together."

"And what about you and Robbie?" Tori teased. My heart started to beat wildly in my chest.

"What do you mean?"

"Hel_lo?_ Cat, he's _totally_ in love with you. I think you should go to Prome with him. And I think he's gonna ask you."

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Why not?"

"Well, I just don't want to get his hopes up, you know?"

My heart skipped a beat. That was all I needed to hear. It was obvious in that sentence that everyone was wrong: Cat didn't like me, and from the sounds of it, she never would. Turning the other way, I bitterly threw Cat's rose in the trash.

It was the end of the school day, so I briskly walked out the front door of the school and walked towards the bike racks. Hopping on my bike, I took off in the direction of my house. I could hear my little sister in her bedroom already, but I ignored her, going for my room and slamming the door and sliding down the door onto the carpet below me. The noise from her room suddenly stopped.

Minutes later, she was knocking on the door. "Robbie?" she called.

"Not now, Ally," I said back, hoping beyond hope my voice didn't crack and expose me.

"Are you okay?"

"I said, _not now_," I snapped. "And if you ask me one more time, I swear I'm gonna..." My voice trailed off.

It was an empty threat. I didn't know how to end it. Allison obviously realized this and sighed, turning and walking the other way. As soon as her door clicked shut, I couldn't take it anymore. Bringing my knees close to my chest, I let the tears I had been holding back flow. It should have been obvious to Cat how much I loved her. She was beautiful, funny, and completely irresistible. I had been practically bending over backwards for her ever since her accident. I had done everything but make a sign or something letting her know how much I wanted her...how much I needed her.

Maybe she had it tough not being able to walk, but I had been in emotional turmoil over her ever since the day we met, which was even before we auditioned for Hollywood Arts. She would never feel pain in the better half of her body again, but I ached every time I saw her. Even though she was broken, I still wanted her. I still needed her.

I still loved her.

I stood, crossing the room to the picture of us we had taken together when we first were accepted at Hollywood Arts. Nobody, not even those who knew about my feelings for her, knew about how often I looked at that picture, wishing and hoping beyond hope that it could have been more than just a friendship thing.

Looking at that picture, I could feel even more hot, fresh tears forming in my eyes. I tried to shake it off, but I just couldn't do it. My heart was beating fast, but at the same time, it was completely shattered. I knew I was afraid to fall in love for this exact purpose, but when I saw Cat for the first time, I knew that that had disappeared. She was beautiful; she was perfect; she was all I had ever needed. She gave me the feeling of being fearless. I didn't care if she was in a wheelchair now: She was Catherina Emmeline Valentine, and I was hopelessly in love with her. Nothing that could happen to her or me, nothing she said or did, nothing in the world was going to make me love her any less than I did at that moment.

I had died inside every day waiting for and chasing after her. She had been so afraid when she first was injured; I had wanted nothing more than to hold her in my arms and chase away her fears. I had loved her for what felt like a thousand years, and I would love her for a thousand more.

Allison knocked on my door again. "Are you sure you're okay?" she called.

Putting on a brave face and wiping my tears away, I crossed the room to the door and opened it. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes. I looked down at her, trying to look like nothing was bothering me, but I realized quickly that I was failing.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked me. I opened the door wider, allowing her to come inside. She jumped on my bed, looking at the tear stained image of me and Cat. "Did you tell her?" she suddenly asked.

"Tell who what?"

"Did you tell Cat that you like her?"

"And how do you know about that?"

She rolled her eyes as if saying, _duh. _"It's obvious when you look at her. And personally, I think you're really cute together."

"Thanks, Ally." I sighed. "No, I didn't tell her. I…I overheard some things today that made me not want to say anything."

"Like what?"

"Like Tori asking if she wanted to go to Prome with me, and Cat saying she "didn't want to get my hopes up"."

She patted my arm comfortingly. "Love sucks."

I frowned. "Please don't tell me you know that from experience."

"No. I know that from TV."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Good. And if any guy breaks your heart, tell me, so that I can kick his ass for you."

"Robbie, you're so weird," she told me.

"You're even weirder," I told her.

"_I _don't carry around a puppet."

I knitted my eyebrows together as I pointed at the door. "Get out."

* * *

**HEHEHE DON'T YOU ALL HATE ME OH I KNOW YOU DO :P Since you guys are reading this, I'm assuming you're Cabbie fans, so I know you must be pretty angry at me right now, bwahaha xD And if you read AWKiF, you're probably thinking 'HEY ALLISON'S IN THIS OHAI THERE ALLY'. Yay good for you for remembering~ Sorry for posting another new chapter so quickly but my mind was like FINGERS KEYBOARD NAU~ Yes I based Robbie's internal monologue on the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri which could have been obvious from the CHAPTER TITLE~ Um I'm bored so HI EVERYONE. I REALLY LIKE THE TILDE KEY GAH~ I'm also really hyper because I just had a sugar free Monster xD Which was probably a bad idea but... WHATEVER~**

**CCougar427098: Thanks. :)  
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: Thanks! :D It was kind of like a compliment to me, lol, it certainly made my day.  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Thanks! :3  
Five Pies To The Face: I am, but that's not my username. To be honest, I haven't been on in a while, so I don't remember what it is xD And thanks! :3 I'm glad that chapter was so 'aw' worthy for you ;)**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	9. I Think You're Swell

The next day, without really intending to, I dressed in all black. I arrived at school later than usual, but found to my surprise that Cat wasn't at my locker or her own. _Well, fine,_ I thought. _I don't want to see her anyway._

What _did _greet me, however, was Andre, Beck, and Tori, all standing patiently at my locker. "Move," I said unfeelingly, turning the dial on my lock to try to get it to open. It opened easily with the trick that…_someone _had taught me.

"Well?" Tori asked, practically ready to burst from excitement.

"Well?" I repeated.

"How'd it go with Cat?" she asked in singsong.

"It didn't," I answered, imitating her and slamming the locker shut.

"What?" she said in absolute shock. "Why not?"

"Oh, don't give me that," I snapped. "You know perfectly well why I didn't talk to Cat. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere I have to be."

"What's your problem?" Beck asked.

"My problem?" I said. "_My problem?_ Are you kidding me right now?"

"Robbie, seriously, what happened?" Andre asked. "You were telling me that you just _had _to ask Cat to Prome with you. What's going on?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, walking away. I didn't let them know how I had cried over her for what felt like hours. I didn't mention how hopelessly in love I was. And I certainly didn't mention how my heart and soul ached for her. I had loved her for so long, but I figured it was time to give up the chase. Cat Valentine was not and never would be mine.

I got to Sikowitz's class soon after, where Cat was already talking to Jade. I took an empty chair in the back of the room, trying not to be seen.

Unfortunately, I heard Jade mumble, "Your geek in shining awkward is here." Cat turned and her eyes fell on me, but I did my best to ignore her. She grabbed hold of the wheels of her chair and came toward me. "Hey, Robbie," she said.

"Hi," I said indifferently back to her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, noticing my attitude.

"Oh, _no_," I said sarcastically. "Where did you _ever_ get that idea?"

"Well, if I did something to make you feel this way, I'm sorry," she said.

"Whatever."

She looked absolutely hurt, which I tried to ignore. No matter how angry I was at her, I hated seeing her upset more than anything in the world. For a moment, I considered apologizing point blank and trying to soothe her, but instead, I glared ahead of me, an angry look surely on my face.

Tori, Andre, and Beck came in the room, saw me looking angry with Cat next to me, and froze. After a minute, Tori came over to Cat and grabbed the handles of her wheelchair, saying, "Come on, Cat, come sit with Jade and me." I almost laughed. Like she had much of a choice over where she sat, what with her inability to walk and the fact that Tori was guiding her.

The class started, but again, I paid no attention. Instead, I sat in the back of the room and pouted for the rest of class. Finally, it ended, and I went to my locker before anyone else, even before the shruggers.

Before I knew it, Jade was there. "What?" I asked, turning to her and nearly doubling back in surprise when I saw scissors in her hand. "Seriously, where do you get those?"

"You know what I told you," she said, sounding very much like…well, like Jade. "You break Cat's heart, I break something of yours." I immediately knew what she meant by 'something' by the way her eyes darted down at my pants and back up. "Oh, boy, did you break her heart."

"I did?" I said in surprise.

"You didn't hear those stupid whimpers coming from her throughout Sikowitz's class? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that it was all because of you."

"Yeah, well, what she said yesterday to Tori doesn't help her right now," I said back. "I do care about Cat, okay? But yesterday, Tori asked if she wanted to go to Prome with me and she said…"

"Oh, let it _go!_" Jade snapped. "You are so full of your own pride that you can't even see that Cat is completely brokenhearted over this stupid thing. You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you should ask her to Prome. Even if you don't want to. Then you guys can literally kiss and make up, okay?" For some reason, it didn't sound like she was suggesting that I ask her to Prome; rather, it came out like an order. I sighed, knowing that Jade was right. I had to go through with my plans.

"Okay," I said.

"Good," she said. "Now I don't have to hurt you." And with that, she walked away.

I grabbed my stuff for my next class, thinking hard. I was going to have to come up with another way to ask Cat to Prome with me, since my original idea was no longer going to work. When I heard another student humming to themselves, I had an idea.

All I had to do was ask Sinjin.

* * *

In my last class of the day, I went up to Sinjin and asked him for help. "I need you to text me at Prome when you're about to play a slow song," I told him.

"No," he said.

"Sinjin, please…"

"No one gets to know the song selection but the DJ. It's how I roll."

I groaned in anger, then thought of something else. Pulling my wallet out of my pocket, I slipped him a brand new twenty dollar bill. He looked from the bill to me then back, as though contemplating it. Finally, he picked it up and slipped it in his shirt pocket. "Ten more bucks and I'll play extra slow songs."

"What!" I said bitterly. "No!"

"Oh, okay, then I'll just take your money and go DJ a different prom…"

"Five dollars."

"Ten."

"Six."

"_Nine._"

"Seven."

"Eight. Take it or lose it."

"You are unbelievable," I said, searching for another ten dollars. "Here." I slammed down two crumpled bills on his desk. "Take it."

"You know, DJ equipment is really expensive…"

"Don't push your luck."

* * *

I rode my bike to Cat's house, my guitar against my back. I hopped off when I got to the porch, hiding my guitar expertly behind a shrub so that she wouldn't see it, then went up to the door and rang the bell. _There's no going back now,_ I told myself, fidgeting nervously.

Her mom answered the door. "Oh. Hi, Robbie." She sounded less than thrilled to see me.

"Is Cat here?" I asked nervously.

"I'll go get her for you," her mom said, closing the door and going up the stairs. I sighed, waiting nervously, fidgeting slightly. The door finally opened. Cat was there, smiling what was only described as a forced smile.

"Hi, Robbie," she greeted.

"Cat, can we talk?" I asked.

Not smiling anymore, she came out side. "What is it?"

Shutting the door for her, I went to the shrub and pulled out my guitar, strumming it once to make sure it was in tune, then looking up at her and smiling. "_I think you're swell,_" I sang. "_I think you're swell. I think you're swell. I think you're swell._"

I had wrote the song just for her throughout the day once I realized I couldn't use my original idea for asking her to Prome. This was the surprise I had planned for her, and I could tell that she thoroughly enjoyed it. Her smile came back, but this time, it wasn't forced. "_I love you like a_ Cops_ marathon on TV._ _I love you more than the original _Star Wars _trilogy. I am the walrus, you're the goo goo gajoo. I'm a whole lot of nothing, you are the much ado. When I say I'm in love, it's more than any love has meant. Every cent I spend on you is money well_ _spent._" Cat's smile was enough to make my heart melt, but at the same time, it made the words come easier.

"_And everyday when you're wheeling down the street is like every other day because you're constantly wheeling down the street,_" I sang, and she smiled wider and laughed. "_And everyday I'm only thinking of you, and a bunch of other important things, but primarily you. Yes, it's true._"

The song was coming to a close quickly, but I knew that I couldn't give up now. "_We go together like pastrami on rye, like watching _Lion King _and trying not to cry. You're in my head like song, you're in my head like a zombie. You're more fun than Frisbee in the park, or popping edamame. We go together like glitter and confetti. And later if you're hungry I'll make you some spaghetti._"

"Would there be vegan meatballs?" Cat asked.

"There would," I said, smiling, then continued, "_And I think you're swell. I think you're swell. I think you're swell._" Setting my guitar down on the step, I got down on one knee in attempt to be eye level with her. I took a pause to collect myself. "You can say 'no' if you want to," I said, taking her hands in mine, "but Catherina Emmeline Valentine, will you go to Prome with me?"

"Of course," she said. My heart skipped a beat. "Why would I want to say 'no' to you?"

"Well, I heard you and Tori talking so I…"

"Oh." She paused. It was her turn to attempt to fidget uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, Tori and I had a talk. She asked if I was going to Prome with you, and I just that I—that this"—she gestured to her wheelchair—"would be too much to handle, so Tori told me to think it over. And, well… Can you hand me my backpack?" I frowned at the question, but grabbed it off the handles of her chair anyway, giving it to her. She unzipped it, rifling through the contents. "I found this in the trash." She held my rose and note in her hands. "Someone who wanted me to be happy that badly, well… I thought I owed it to you. For putting up with me."

"Cat, no," I said. Her words had hurt. "I do _not _'put up with you'. You have no choice but to be this way. Any guy who was to 'put up with you' obviously doesn't deserve you."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Thanks," she whispered, tears in her eyes, "for making me cry."

I smiled at her. "For once, you're quite welcome."

Suddenly, realization set in. "How are we supposed to dance if…"

I was one step ahead of her. "I've got an idea."

"But…"

"Just give me the slow songs, okay? That's all I ask for."

She thought about it, then said, "Okay." She smiled again. "I'm glad I'm going to Prome with you."

"I'm glad you are, too," I said back.

She put her arms around my neck, and I held her back, allowing her to rest her head on my shoulder. "Thank you, Robbie," she said to me. I didn't respond, thinking that it had to be way too good to be true. She turned her head, kissing my cheek.

That was when I _knew _it was too good to be true.

* * *

**Really quick: I know the only episode that said Cat was vegan was The Breakfast Bunch, which wasn't really canon, but I liked the idea so much that I just kept it ;p I also slightly modified the words to the song in case you didn't notice. Okay, we're getting to my favourite part of the story: The Prome. It's going to be the longest chapter yet, so brace yourselves :p Even though I personally think that you might think it'll be a good ending, that's not where the story ends. I have a few more chapters planned after that. Wow, three updates today? I must be absolutely amazing. Really, my brain just like exploded and I hoped to finish this before I go on vacation in a few days, which I really doubt will happen, but I'm going to keep trying anyway xD Please review.**

**CCougar427098: Lol, I tried xD And oh my gosh are you like…Raven or something? xD  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Because Robbie's an idiot xD  
La la la laaaaa: Yep he is ;)  
**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	10. A Moment Like This

The night of Prome arrived quickly. I looked over myself quickly in the mirror, deciding that I was not going to get much better. I knew it was silly—after all, as my mother had said, it was 'only Cat', but I wanted her to have the best Prome possible, especially if I wanted my plans to go through well.

I tightened my pink tie one more time, dabbing on just a hint of cologne. My heart was pounding in my chest, which I tried to ignore. It was time to go face the music…and Cat.

I walked down the stairs on shaky legs, arriving in my kitchen where my mother and sister were already waiting for me. "You look so handsome!" my mom said smiling brightly.

"Thanks," I said, taking Cat's corsage out of the fridge. Everything had to be just right. I was going to pick up Cat in my car, then we were going out to eat before the Prome. Finally, we would go to the dance, spend some timetogether, dance with my plan, and possibly, everything would end up okay.

Holding Cat's corsage in hand, my mom took a picture of me before I could stop her. "Have fun!" she said as I started toward the door.

Starting up my car, I started the drive to Cat's house. I arrived there minutes later, took a moment to collect myself, and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Cat's brother, Charlie, answered. "Hey," he said. "Cat's inside."

"Thanks," I said, "do you mind if I come in?"

He stood back to let me go in the house. I walked in, going towards the kitchen, where Cat was waiting. She was so strikingly beautiful that she literally took my breath away. She was wearing a strapless, simple pink dress, with two roses on it that matched the earrings that she wore. Pinning her hair back was a pink cat hair pin, and on her feet were pink flats with black flowers on the toes. She looked absolutely stunning and I knew that there was no way that I could compare or ever deserve someone as perfect as her.

She fidgeted uncomfortably (at least, the best that someone could when they were paralyzed) when she saw me. "Hi," she said shyly.

"You look beautiful," I said before I could stop myself.

She blushed. "Thank you," she said back. She turned to her brother. "See? I _told_ you the pink tie would look alright."

I smiled at her as her brother shook his head. Nervously, I got down on one knee and slipped the corsage that I had bought for her onto her wrist. Though it wasn't exactly planned, the colors of the flowers very nearly matched the color of her hair pin. I paid no attention to her mother, who stood in a corner taking pictures. At eye level, I finally saw Cat's face close up. She had on subtle shades of pink eyeshadow, minimal blush, and red lip stain that matched her hair. If we were alone, I would have finally come out and told her, flat out, that I loved her, if _I Think You're Swell _wasn't clear enough already. Knowing Cat, it probably wasn't.

I finally forced myself to stand up, and her mother took a few more pictures. Ultimately, she asked me to get back on the ground so that there was one where we were eye level, so I slipped my arm around her shoulders when we were. I got a whiff of her perfume, which smelled faintly of roses.

When I finally stood up so we could leave, Cat went to talk to her mother and Charlie pulled me aside. "Listen," he said. "I know all about what's going on between you and Cat."

"Oh?" I said. If I were to be honest, _I _wasn't entirely sure what was going on.

"And if you do anything to hurt my baby sister, I swear to God, she won't be the only one that won't be walking."

"Don't worry," I promised. "I have a little sister, too. I know exactly where you're coming from."

That didn't seem to reassure him, but at that moment, Cat came back over with a big smile on her face. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded, as her mother led her outside. I had no choice but to follow as she gently pushed Cat down the wheelchair ramp on their porch next to the steps. Unlocking my car, the back seat was already down, so Cat took off her seatbelt and her brother came out, helping her into the front seat.

"Got it?" her mom asked as I settled the wheelchair in the back seat.

"Yeah, I've done this before," I said, putting the brakes on once I got it into position. Shutting the door, I got into the front seat.

"Alright, be safe!" her mother called. "And have a good time!"

Cat waved to her mother, saying, "Bye, Mom!" as I started the car. We started our drive in semi silence, then Cat broke it later when she said, "Thank you again."

"For?"

"Everything." She was blushing again. "I mean, for being my friend and helping and supporting me through all of this and for asking me to Prome even though I'm like this, and I really appreciate you telling me earlier that I'm beautiful, and I just…"

"Cat, _breathe_," I said, laughing.

"Just thank you, Robbie," she said when she stopped to take a breath.

"Anytime, Cat. Anytime."

We arrived at the restaurant soon where we had dinner, the only place that I knew of that had vegan options for Cat and something without gluten or lactose for myself (I had done searches online for hours two days earlier). When we went inside, the waitress gave us a bit of an odd glance. "What are you all dressed up for?" she asked us.

"Prom," I answered.

The look she gave Cat said it all, but she said nothing as she led us to the table. I noticed some sympathetic glances as we went, but I chose to ignore them. That night, nothing mattered to me but making sure that Cat had the best time at Prome that was possible…and possibly, go through with my own plans for the night as well. I waited until Cat was situated before sitting down myself.

We talked throughout dinner, then soon, it was time for the actual Prome. I was getting nervous, but I tried not to let it show. I loaded Cat up in the car again and drove to the school, where Prome was going to be held. When we arrived there, I adamently refused to allow Cat to push herself in her wheelchair. When she asked why, I said, "This is your night to just forget about that, okay?"

"Are you still going to try to dance with me?" she asked.

"Slow songs," I repeated.

Immediately, we ran into Tori and Andre. "Tori, you look so pretty!" Cat said right away. Tori's dress was a white, strapless one made of silky material, with a black sash around the waist that tied into a bow. She, too, had a white corsage on her wrist, tied on with a black strap.

"Thanks!" Tori said back. "You do, too!"

"Thank you," Cat said.

"You clean up nicely, Rob," Andre told me.

"Thanks," I said nonchalantly. "I try."

As more couples filed in, I took Cat over to a table so that I could sit down with her, placing my phone on the table so that I would know when Sinjin would play a slow song. The Prome got started; couples and singles alike both got onto the dance floor together and started to dance, while Cat and I talked at our table, just enjoying one another's company. Though I knew it was a dance, I felt very comfortable just sitting with Cat. It was a bit nerve wracking, being so close to the girl I had loved, but at the same time, very soothing.

I overheard Tori glancing at us sadly and telling Andre, "Are they just going to sit there all night?"

"Robbie said he had a plan for slow songs," Andre told her. I wondered if Cat heard them. If she did, she didn't express it.

The dance was in full swing now; the dance floor had a sizable amount of people on it. Cat and I were making jokes about Disney movies when suddenly, my phone started to vibrate. I looked at it discreetly under the table: It was from Sinjin.

_About to play the first slow song after this_

The song _Shake It _by Metro Station was ending quickly, so I looked up at Cat. "Alright," I said. "Come with me."

She took the brakes off, giving me a confused look. "What's going on?"

I grabbed hold of the handles of her wheelchair, leading her to the dance floor. "Sinjin's about to play a slow song, and you said you'd dance with me then."

"I just don't see how…"

"Please?"

My voice convinced her, so she finally said, "Alright," and we went to the edge of the dance floor. I pulled out the footrests on her chair, putting the brakes on, and allowing her to take the seatbelt off.

Sinjin said into a microphone, "Alright, this next song is for all you _lovers _out there," looking directly at Cat and I.

"Put your arms around my neck," I said to her quietly.

"What?" she said back in confusion.

"Just do it." She did, and I picked her up, carrying her to the dance floor as _She Will Be Loved _by Maroon 5 started. This was what I had in mind when I said I had a plan. During the slow songs, I planned on picking her up and sort of moving to the beat of the music. It wasn't perfect, but this ensured that we would have a bit of fun at the Prome. I could feel many sets of eyes fall on us, Tori's included. She gasped quietly and started telling Andre to look at us. He did, and discreetly gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back.

"Well, this isn't perfect," I said quietly to Cat, "but didn't I promise you that we'd dance together?"

Tears were forming in her eyes. "Robbie, you're amazing."

"I know," I said back, trying to tease her but failing. We stared into each other's eyes for the rest of the song, and I knew that there was no going back. Once it got to the end of Prome, I was going to admit my feelings for her once and for all.

The song ended, so we carefully left the dance floor so as not to disturb anyone else. Sinjin was apparently playing a marathon of Maroon 5, as the radio edit of _Payphone _came on, followed by _Makes Me Wonder. _Later, he also played _Moves Like Jagger, _which Cat and I sang along to since we couldn't join the people dancing. That was the one flaw in my plan: It worked well for slower songs, but for upbeat music, there was no way that Cat and I dancing together would have looked right, or appropriate.

Tori and Andre came over later, and Tori had tears in her eyes. "Robbie, you're a genius," she said. "That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen anyone do."

"I know, right?" Cat said. "I'm so lucky to have him!"

I smiled at her, wishing that her words could have been taken at face value. I wanted more than anything to have Cat all to myself, to have her for the rest of my life… But that was not the right moment to say anything. After chatting for a little bit, we allowed Tori and Andre to go off to dance together again. Soon enough, my phone was buzzing violently again. Sinjin had texted me once again. _A "special song" is about to come on_

As _Moves Like Jagger _ended, he said, "Alright, ladies, grab your dates. It's time to slow this party down." He had dragged out the word 'slow' as he messed with the song selection.

I was carry-dancing with Cat once again as Whitney Houston's voice flooded the room with_ I Will Always Love You_. I thought it was a bit of an odd song choice for a high school prom, but I didn't care; the words could not have been truer for me. Later, Sinjin texted me when the songs _A Thousand Years _by Christina Perri and _The Scientist _by Coldplay came on.

Cat was obviously having a good time, which put a smile on my own face as well as hers. Pretty soon, Tori announced that it was time to announce who was Prome King and Queen. "We've been collecting votes online on TheSlap," she announced, "and soon, we'll have Sinjin announce the winners. Stay tuned!"

"I wonder who it'll be," Cat told me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Probably Trina for queen since she's likely to murder anyone who didn't vote for her."

Cat laughed. "I really hope it's Tori and Andre, don't you?"

"That'd be good," I agreed.

Sinjin put on 'special music' to announce who the winners were: The song was a cover of the song _Waiting For A Girl Like You _by the Foreigners, but in the cover version, there was a male and female singer, so the female's lyrics talked about a boy instead of a girl. I suppose it was supposed to be fitting to the situation, or whatever, but either way, Cat and I decided to join the crowd of people gathered to find out who the winner was.

"And this year's Prome Queen is…" Sinjin announced, looking at his PearPhone.

Several girls had their fingers crossed, but I couldn't help but notice that Tori and Trina were exchanging knowing looks. _It has to be one of them,_ I thought. _Tori helped tally the votes, she knows… _I couldn't believe it when Sinjin finally read off the name on his phone:

"Cat Valentine! Cat, come up here!"

Cat's eyes doubled in size and she looked at Tori for confirmation. Trina actually looked perfectly okay with who the queen was, applauding her with everyone else. The crowd parted to allow Cat to go by, where Tori was waiting to put the Prome Queen crown on her head. She looked even more stunning than she had earlier, and a smile was on her face, an identical one on mine.

"And now, the Prome King," Sinjin said. "This race was very close this year," he said, dragging it out longer than necessary. "But I guess you all were looking for a theme with the King and Queen because this year's Prome King is…"

I wondered what could _possibly _be a theme for the King and Queen, considering Cat had won. I was again rather unexpecting when I heard Sinjin say…

"Robbie Shapiro!"

I was absolutely stunned, but had no choice but to join Cat where she was at so that I could be crowned Prome King. This was all too absolutely wonderful to be real, I thought, but smiled anyway when Cat smiled at me first.

"Since this year's Prome Queen is a bit of inspiration to us all," Sinjin said, "our song for our King and Queen is going to be a bit inspirational, too."

Already helping Cat out of her wheelchair, but this time hugging her against my body rather than carry her with her arms around my neck, I wondered what Sinjin had meant by 'inspirational'. My question was answered when _Don't Stop Believing _by Journey began. It was the most amazing night of my life for sure, I realized, as I nervously moved around the dance floor with Cat in my arms. She looked at me with her big brown eyes, enough to make my heart melt. I was absolutely, one hundred percent, crazy in love with her. Being crowned King and Queen was just the icing on the cake.

"I'm so glad you won," she whispered to me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked back. "_I'm _glad that _you _won."

When the song ended, we took our original spots, with several people walking by to tell us congratulations. Even Jade stopped by to congratulate Cat, telling her that she looked pretty, and walked away without a word to me. It was obvious she was still angry about the thing that had happened between us. When we were alone again, I asked, "Picture for TheSlap?"

"Sure," Cat said, repositioning herself as best as she could. I came around the table to her, got down on one knee for what felt like the thousandth time, and snapped a picture with her. Her smile was huge. I showed her the picture, sent it to her at her request, and posted it online with the caption, "This year's Prome Queen and King! Say what?" I slapped Cat in it, then texted the picture to both of our mother's and my sister, Allison.

Later, my phone buzzed once again. Another text from Sinjin. _About to play the last song of the night and it'll be slooooowww…_

"Last song," I told Cat. She looked up in surprise. "It's a slow song," I told her. "Come on, Queen."

She laughed at the nickname and took the brakes off her wheelchair, allowing me to take her back in the direction of the dance floor for the last time. As I started to help her get out of her wheelchair, some people came by and offered congratulations yet again as _Glad You Came _by The Wanted started to end. Cat hummed the final notes to the song to herself, smiling in the cute way that only she could.

Tori and Andre were dancing close by us, looking very intimate for such an upbeat song. Cat laughed when she saw them, and I had to hide a chuckle, too. I was so happy to see the two of them so happy; I hoped that maybe, just maybe, Cat and I could be like that one day. I wanted more than anything to finally say 'yes' to Andre's requests to double date with them, and also to be able to ask Cat out on dates with just the two of us. I had never wanted anything more in my entire life.

As the song reached the last, slow chorus, I told Cat, "I need to tell you something." She waited expectantly, so I continued, "Well, I'm glad you came here with me tonight. I know this isn't exactly the perfect prom that you'd been hoping for, but you've made me very, very happy tonight."

"Thank _you_ for asking me," she said. "I've had a great time."

Sinjin broke our conversation when he announced, "Last song of the night! Things are going to get a little _slow _around here."

I already had Cat in my arms, with her clinging to my neck for dear life, as Kelly Clarkson's _A Moment Like This _filled the area. I started shifting my feet to the music, as Cat rested her head on my shoulder as though we were a real couple, dancing together to the song instead of just me holding her.

"Cat," I said. "I _really _need to tell you something." She looked up at me suddenly. I was the only one talking, so I let my voice drop to a whisper, struggling to be heard over the music. "That song I sang to you the other day…I meant every word of it. I wanted to ask you here tonight because I can't stop thinking about you. You make me so happy, in ways that I cannot even fathom sometimes. You are the most beautiful girl I know. I know I'm not the most handsome, popular guy there is, but I just wanted you to know that I…"

Before I could finish the sentence, Kelly's voice sang, "_Some people search forever for that one special kiss…_"As though Cat had planned it, sort of like I had been planning my speech, she pressed her lips to mine at that line. I shut my eyes tight, focusing on only her as the song continued. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me. I could feel sparks on my lips from where hers had touched them, and when we parted she looked into my eyes affectionately with her big brown ones.

"I've been wanting to do that for a really long time," she said, with tears in her eyes. "But I didn't know if you would be okay with it. Now I know." She attempted to smile at me.

"I love you," I finally finished. "And I have loved you for a very long time, Cat."

"Despite this?" she asked.

"Nothing in the world could make me love you any less."

We fell into silence again for the rest of the song. Cat went back to resting her head on my shoulder, as I continued to sway in time to the music. Nothing had ever felt so perfect in my entire life. Tori and Andre, too, were dancing in a similar fashion, with Tori's feet planted firmly on the ground. Jade and Beck, for once, didn't look like they were going to kill one another as they danced as well; in fact, they looked very hospitable. Like Cat did to me, it seemed that Beck brought out the good side of Jade.

With the song coming to a close, Cat finally looked up at me once again, a questioning look in her eyes. As the song reached the highest point when it came to the notes, Cat asked me, "Do you really love me?"

"Always. I love you so much, Cat."

The look on her face put it simply for me: We were definitely together. She proved just that by kissing my cheek. Just like the song had said, I had been waiting my whole life for a moment like that. I had been searching for so long for someone that completed me as well as she did, someone that I loved unconditionally. And I finally found the missing piece of myself.

Nothing in the world had ever felt so perfect.

* * *

**YAY THE PROME okay there's like three chapters left I think? Maybe more, I'm not entirely sure. I know that I'm going to wrap this up soon, though. So watch out for that ;p I'm hoping to get this completed tomorrow if at all possible since I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow afternoon/evening. That may mean more crazy updates from me, lol. So um yeah! I loved this chapter, not gonna lie. Yay Cabbie~ Okay so on my profile is a link that might help you out for visualizing this chapter, which is a link to Cat/Robbie's outfits. The way that Robbie was holding her was originally bridal style, but when he said he "hugged her to his body", that was basically like he held her upright with her legs around his waist (and yes, he would have had to hold them there, lol). So anyway yay~**

**La la la laaaaa: Lol yep ;) Hope this chapter was alright.  
CabbieLoverSAC22: I loved it too! :) I wish they had actually gone together in the show :/  
5Fingers2TheCat: Here you go~**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	11. Everybody Hurts

Beck's semester project was a short film entitled _Skater Girl_. However, I'm sure everyone was surprised when he wanted the lead to be…

"Me?" Cat asked.

"Absolutely," Beck said.

"But I can't…"

"I know you can't walk, and therefore, can't skate. But you really should read the script before you make this decision, okay? Besides, I just had this vision of you popping wheelies in your wheelchair and having this kind of, like, really funny personality, you know?"

Cat read the script quickly, absolutely loved it, and agreed to take on the part of the lead, Emma Burnett. I, too, was cast in Beck's short film, along with Tori, Andre, and Jade. Cat did end up doing a few wheelies in the film, which Beck thought completed Emma's character.

My part, Jason Locke, was Emma's best friend who was trying to convince her not to take place in a roller skating competition due to her having a broken leg in five places (I figured that Beck wrote the film based on Cat's injury, but other than the injury in the script, I had no proof). At the end of the competition, in a spur of the moment decision, Emma and Jason kiss. Tori was playing Emma's biggest rival in the competition, Stephanie Saville, and Jade was supposed to be Jason's sister, Claire.

Due to "Cat's compelling story", a local hospital loaned us a wheelchair that could be used for stunts. It was lime green, with hardly any back at all (it only went up as high as the wheels on the chair, which were slanted inwards to prevent any falls or damages). Unlike Cat's wheelchair, the only brakes on this one were her hands, so we bought her new BMX gloves that matched the metal of the chair and fit the film better.

When it was finally filmed and presented, it had mixed reviews. However, Beck ended up getting an A on it for originality, so he didn't really care about the audience's response. Cat took it as a personal blow.

"It's nothing against you," I tried to tell her.

"They didn't like it," she said sadly.

"I thought it was great," I said.

"Well, of course _you_ would," she said. "_You_ were in it."

I sighed, knowing I couldn't win here. "I know," I finally settled on. "But really, I thought you did a great job in it anyway," I tried to soothe.

"Thanks, Robbie, but it doesn't really help," she said. "The film was a flop."

I sighed again. There was no way I was going to get her to see it in a positive light. I knew Cat. We had known each other for years and at that point had been dating for a month. She was taking the comments on Beck's film way too personally.

Almost as though trying to lighten her spirits, Sikowitz announced the next day what the school play was going to be. "It's a musical," he said, "and no, I did not write it myself," he continued when Jade opened her mouth to interrupt. "Now, I'm sure you've all heard of it, and have probably seen the film that it's based upon. The musical shall be…_The Wizard of Oz_."

Cat and Tori immediately fell into conversation about the musical as Sikowitz continued, "I'll be holding open auditions after school tomorrow and the day after. The cast list will be posted on Monday. All of you that are preparing to audition, break a leg."

At lunch that day, as I was helping Cat put some things into her locker before heading outside, she was talking a mile a minute about the play, and how she hoped it'd be a 'good rebound' after _Skater Girl_. "The film wasn't _that _bad," I tried telling her again.

"That's what you think," she said. "Anyway, I'm _so _excited for auditions tomorrow. Because maybe I'll…"

"Are you sure you want to audition?" I asked.

"Of course I'm sure," she said. "Why wouldn't I be sure?"

"Well, that musical's a bit challenging, even for an able bodied actress. You've got the voice for Dorothy or Glinda, but what about all the movement and stuff?"

"I can handle it."

"Are you sure? I just don't want you to…"

"Robbie, _please _let me audition."

"I'm not stopping you," I said, closing her locker for her and getting down on eye level with her. "I'm just saying, the _Wizard of Oz _is a challenging musical to do, and there can be a lot of dancing in it. I mean, if you're sure that you want to do it, you can go ahead, but I don't want you to be overwhelmed."

"I really want to audition," she said.

I paused, thinking about it. I was sure that Sikowitz wouldn't be so rude as to not cast Cat because she wasn't able to dance (especially given the speech he gave us when she was paralyzed), but I didn't want her to be crushed in the off chance that she didn't get a good part…or worse, wasn't casted at all. "Alright, then," I said, leading her outside to go see our friends.

Tori was absent from the lunch table when we arrived, but everyone else was talking about the upcoming musical, even Jade. I didn't really see her as the kind of person to get excited over this kind of play, but she was preparing to audition, too, and was trying to find a "G rated" song to sing for the audition. Sikowitz hadn't been very happy with her song selection for the last musical.

When Tori finally arrived, Andre asked, "Where you been?"

"Sorry, I was putting stuff in my locker and it took longer than I expected," she said, sitting next to him.

"Why didn't you ask me for help?"

"Nah, I got it."

For the rest of lunch, Cat became very withdrawn. I knew I couldn't be the only to notice, but I didn't want to say anything, out of risk of hurting her feelings. She hadn't seemed thrilled when I voiced my concern over her auditioning; I doubted she'd want to hear me worrying yet again.

Thankfully, Beck noticed. "You okay, Cat?" he asked.

"Yeah, you seem a little down," Tori agreed.

"It's nothing," she said. The way that she was playing with a few strands of her hair said it all.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her.

She gave me a sad look, so I took the brakes off her wheelchair and told the group, "We'll be back," then led her to a quiet place for us to talk. When we got there, I used my most comforting voice to ask, "Are you sure you're okay, hon?"

"I just…" I was sure I wasn't imagining the tears in her eyes. "It's nothing."

"No, tell me." It seemed that whenever she had a problem or we were just together in general, I got down on one knee to keep the conversation from becoming awkward; I did just that in that conversation as well. "You know you can trust me with anything."

"Not this," she said. "It'll just sound stupid."

"Cat, nothing you say to me ever sounds stupid," I said. "I'm here. What is it?"

"It was just…I feel bad for you."

"Why do you possibly feel bad for me?"

"For having to look out for me all the time." She hugged her chest tight, not daring to look me in the eye. "I mean, I always need help with stuff, no matter what it is, because I just can't do it on my own. When Tori came out and Andre asked if she needed help, she said she didn't. But I _always _need help. I _always _have to be next to you, or Tori, or Jade, or someone, because there's not much I can do on my own, without help. It's just not fair that you have to keep looking out for me because you should be able to not have to worry about me. You just…"

"I just…what?" I asked, afraid to know the answer.

"You just deserve someone like Jade or Tori, who can walk and doesn't have to be carried to dance with and can do everything without everyone worrying if they're going to be okay. You deserve someone who doesn't need someone to hold their hand or has to be looked after all the time. You don't deserve someone…someone like me."

"Oh, Cat," I whispered. Her words had crushed me. "Don't think that way. I've told you once and I'll tell you again, I love you just the way that you are. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have to worry about someone all the time, but even if you could walk, I would. When we first met, I always wondered if you were going to be okay."

"Robbie…"

"Let me finish. I have loved you from the start, Cat. When you were in your accident, I could have walked out on you. I could have just said 'forget it', I could have decided that you weren't worth the chase anymore. But I didn't. If anything, my love for you grew stronger."

"I just don't…"

"You remember that song from Prome? _Payphone_?" I asked. She nodded glumly; I quietly sang two lines from it, not even bothering to care that it was the explicit version. "_Those fairy tales are full of shit. One more fucking love song, I'll be sick._"

"What does that have to do…"

"I'm telling you that there has never been a truer song that I have ever listened to. Where are the princesses in wheelchairs, or with cancer, or taking syringes? Where are the stories about the imperfect girls? And all of the supposed love songs nowadays are always talking about how hot a girl's body is or whatever, right? Where are the true songs that come from the heart, about how wonderful a girl's personality is?"

"But…" She was in tears again.

"What is it?" I tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

"You could date any pretty girl that you pointed your finger at, and I'm not like those pretty girls. I'm like…this."

"Well, good. Because I don't want any of those other pretty girls." I wiped away a tear from her eye as well. "As much as I _could _want someone else, I don't. I just want you. I just want a cute redhead named Catherina Emmeline Valentine, who just so happens to be paralyzed from her chest down."

"Why would you want that?"

"You didn't hear the conversation Andre and I had on that day. He told me that if I manned up and told you that I love you, he'd tell Tori that he liked her. Obviously, I went through with that promise, didn't I? Now smile. I didn't fall in love with your tears."

She sniffed once, wiping her tears away, finally smiling.

"There," I said, standing. "Now, let's go see our friends again, okay? I'm sure they'll want to know where we've gotten off to."

I took her back to the table and sat down, trying to ignore the awkward silence that followed. "What?" I said when everyone, sans Cat, was staring at me.

"What'd you do to her?" Jade asked.

"Nothing!"

"Then why is she crying?"

"She's just a little emotional," I said, trying to cover it up. "Right, Cat?"

She nodded once. "I'm fine."

"And she's going to audition for the _Wizard of Oz_ tomorrow, right?" I asked.

"Of course."

"See? Everything is fine," I said. Jade obviously didn't believe me, but didn't say anything.

The next day, I went with Cat to the auditions for the musical. I did mine right before her, then she did hers. I could faintly hear her singing from outside the room. She was singing _Finally Falling _from the play _Uptown, Downtown._ She sounded absolutely amazing, as per usual. However, as I was waiting for her, Jade grabbed onto my shirt, holding me close to her face.

"What's. Wrong. With. Cat?" she asked violently.

"She's just…" I knew there was no getting around it. "She's upset because she thinks that I don't deserve someone like her and that I deserve someone like you or Tori because you both can walk and don't need any help with anything and she _can't _walk and needs help on a daily basis, that's all."

"That's _all?_" Jade snapped. "She was completely shaken up at lunch and you say 'that's all'?"

"I'm sorry?" I managed to say.

She pushed me away roughly. "Well, she's right. You _don't _deserve her, not in a million lifetimes. She's way too good for you and if you can't see that…"

"I know," I said. "I know that. She's an amazing person and I'm extremely lucky to have her."

"You know, ever since Prome, something's been off with her," Jade said. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing."

"What'd you do to her today?"

"Nothing!" I repeated.

"So why was she so upset?"

"You know Cat," I said. Before I could finish, the door to the classroom opened and Cat came out of it. "Jade, it's your turn," she said.

"Ready to go?" I asked, going up to her.

"Uh huh. Break a leg, Jade," she called over her shoulder as we left. After dropping her off at her house, I thought about what Jade had said. I had to admit, she was absolutely right. I would never deserve a girl like Cat, a girl as beautiful and charming as Cat. I was…just me.

* * *

That Friday, Cat and I were leaving school and she was getting anxious to know about the casting. The door to Sikowitz's class was open slightly, so that we caught random pieces of the conversation he was having with Sinjin, who would be helping backstage. "I just don't know who to cast as Dorothy," Sikowitz was saying.

Cat suddenly stopped, but I tried to convince her to keep going. She stubbornly refused, which I thought was going to be a bad thing. "You'll hear the story on Monday from Sinjin, now come on," I tried to tell her.

"What about Cat?" Sinjin was saying. "I watched her audition tape and she was…"

"Well, Cat does have a phenomenal voice," Sikowitz was saying.

"Cat, come on," I urged gently.

"So why don't you cast her?"

There was a long and awkward silence. Cat looked like she was holding her breath. I tried to get her to move, but found to my horror that she had put the breaks on. "Cat, seriously, we should go," I was saying.

At that moment, the bomb was dropped. "I just don't think that I would be comfortable casting a paralyzed actress."

Cat's mouth dropped open in shock and horror. I froze, too. There was absolutely no way I was hearing this right.

"Well, it _is _your decision," Sinjin said.

"That's it. Jade will be Dorothy, and Cat will be her understudy."

"Alright. Now, for the Wicked Witch I was thinking…"

Their voices seemed to fall a bit, as though they knew we were listening. "Cat?" I finally asked, trying my best not to sound overly soothing, because I knew that would set her off. "Are you…"

She took off down the hallway, calling over her shoulder, "See you later!"

"Cat, wait!" I called back, chasing after her. But she was gone before I could catch up. I sighed. I had been right about my fear behind her auditioning. It would have been better if she had never bothered going to that audition, because this pain had to be worse than the fear of not knowing. I should have done a better job protecting her. Jade was absolutely right. I would never deserve Cat.

* * *

At home that day, I sulked in my room for a bit. I had no idea about my own casting, but after what happened with Cat, I didn't care. She came first, and I had failed to protect her, once again.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated violently in my pocket. It was from her. I was going to attempt to try to cheer her up, but froze when I saw her message.

_Goodbye, Robbie. I love you._

Goodbye, Robbie? What was that supposed to mean? And suddenly, it clicked.

I dashed outside, ran to my bike, and took off as fast as I possibly could to Cat's house, holding my phone in my shaking hand. I had to hurry if I wanted to make it in time. Frantically, I dialled 911.

"Hello, what is your emergency?" the operator said.

Barely completing a turn without crashing, I practically screamed into the phone, "I need an ambulance, quick! My friend is attempting suicide!"

* * *

**DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN. Hi guys, there's only two chapters left. And it's going to be (as though you couldn't tell from that ending) rather dramatic. So um yeah. Please review. I know this plot kind of came out of nowhere, but this was part of the ending my friend and I came up with that I was telling you about. I know I could have executed it better, but I really want to finish this and I think that it'll work, anyway. So um yeah~**

**CabbieLoverSAC22: I thought so too :) I didn't mean to make you cry :/ I'm sorry if this did again? And thanks, my friend helped me pick it out :)**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	12. Beauty From Pain

I quite literally dropped my bike on Cat's front porch, throwing open the door to the house without knocking, not bothering to close it, and nearly toppling over Charlie in my mad haste to get to Cat. "Cat's upstairs," he managed to tell me.

"I know!" I shouted back, taking them two at a time.

To my horror, I found that Cat's door was locked and started to pound on it. "Cat, open this door right now!" I screamed. There was no response. "Cat, listen to me! Cat!" I jiggled the doorknob with no success. "Cat, I know you're in there, God dammit!" I looked on the floor and found one of Cat's bobby pins, picked it up, and twisted it in a way that I had seen done only in a movie, but decided to give it a try anyway. My fingers were shaking, but I had to get to Cat. I had to be sure everything was okay.

It took a long time, but suddenly, the doorknob twisted in my hand and I was allowed access into Cat's room. I threw the door open and tossed the bobby pin aside, finding the lights off and the blinds shut. A small amount of light was peaking in through the cracks in the blinds. Cat lay motionless on the floor in a corner, her wheelchair a few feet behind her. Next to her outstretched arm on the floor was an empty bottle of pills; next to that was her phone.

"No, no, no, no, no," I whispered in horror, seeing it. I dropped to my knees beside her, shaking her vehemently. "Cat, please, don't do this to me," I begged. "Cat, please, wake up!"

There was no response. It couldn't be too late already? But she wouldn't move, no matter how much I tried.

"Cat…" I said, getting desperate. I gently slapped her face a few times, then said again, "Cat, please, wake up!"

Slowly but surely, she opened her eyes. That would have been a good thing considering, but the effort it took was not. "I'm sorry, Robbie," she muttered.

"Cat, no, please, don't do this to me."

"It's too late, Robbie," she said. "I just took an entire bottle of pills."

"Cat…" I said, fighting back tears. "Why did you do this?" She had to put up a great effort to keep her eyes open, so I shook her roughly once again. "_Please_, Cat…"

"It's the end of the road for me," she said back, her eyes open again.

"No, it's not, Cat, don't you ever say that," I said, shaking her once more. "Cat, listen to me, please." Her eyes managed to stay open. "Cat, I know how young we are, but I wanted to marry you," I whispered, trying not to show how badly my voice was wavering. "You're all I've ever wanted, Cat. I love you so much, baby."

I had never called her anything of the sort. The other day I had called her 'hon' at lunch, but that was so much different than 'baby'. And now it might be too late to ever call her that or give her another pet name again.

"I love you, too," she said, "but you don't deserve all this."

Her eyes started to drift shut again, so I shook her one more time and they managed to stay open. "Why would you do this, Cat? _Why?_" There was no denying that I was crying by that point. I was not prepared to let go of her, literally or figuratively.

"You deserve something better than me," she said. I knew from her tone that she purposely wasn't answering my question. "Don't be sad," she continued.

"Cat…" I said as her eyes drifted shut again. I tried to shake her awake but that time she wouldn't do anything. "Cat, don't leave me!" I said. "Cat, baby, please, come back to me, please!" She didn't respond. "Please, baby, please!" My sobs coursed through my entire body. I couldn't stop shaking. "Cat, if you fucking die on me, I swear I will never forgive you!" Again, no response. I wiped my eyes with the back of my thumb, knowing it was no good. As soon as those tears were gone, fresh ones pushed their way to the surface.

"Cat," I whispered. "Baby, please." For the first time, I became aware of a piece of paper sitting on the seat of Cat's wheelchair, so I took it and held it in my hand. I couldn't be certain of what it was, but I didn't care. I was almost positive it was a suicide note. Feeling like there was no other option, I pressed my lips to hers. They were still warm, thank God.

As soon as I had broken apart from her, I became aware of a figure at the door: Charlie. He took in the scene in horror, came into the room dangerously, and yelled, "What the hell did you do to my sister?" I was shaking and sobbing too hard to answer his question, so he shouted at me, "You son of a bitch, Shapiro, answer me!"

"I didn't," I muttered, trying to keep my voice calm. "She—she's leaving us," I said, afraid to answer him out loud.

"What?" He suddenly didn't seem to care about my presence, dropping to his knees in horror. "Cat, sis, wake up," he said. "Wake up."

"I've already tried," I said in an uneven voice. "An ambulance is on the way."

"Well, where the fuck are they?" he asked.

"I-I don't know," I responded. "They should have been here."

As though on cue, less than thirty seconds later, they were in the house and up the stairs by Cat's side. "What's going on?" an EMT asked me. I had seen far too many responding to an emergency situation Cat was in. It was far too much for my liking.

"She overdosed," I said in a weak voice.

"On what?" The other two were pulling her off my lap and loading her onto a stretcher.

I jerked my head in the direction of the bottle, not wanting to let her go but knowing I had to if I wanted to save her life. She seemed between worlds as it was; I wasn't going to lose her, not yet. Though it wasn't logical, I grabbed hold of her hand as she lay there, limp and motionless.

The EMT picked it up, read the label carefully, and put it in her pocket, as though it were evidence. Immediately, they picked up Cat on the stretcher and started to carry her down the stairs. I was forced to relinquish her hand as they went, tears spilling out of my eyes yet again.

Quietly to myself, I murmured, "I love you."

* * *

I paced in the waiting room, unable to sit still. Charlie had gone into the E.R., giving me the painful task of calling their mother to let her know what had happened. She was on her way there as everything was going on.

I couldn't lose the one thing that had ever truly been mine. I wasn't going to give up. I couldn't lose hope that Cat would be okay.

They were going to pump her stomach. After that, if she was still responsive, they'd move onto giving her an antidote, if they had one. I hoped beyond hope that one existed, and that she'd make it that long.

I had almost forgotten Cat's note in my pocket, which at that point was crumpled up, since I had closed my fist around it in fear. Pulling it out, I smoothed it out gently. I needed to see what it said. Just glancing at the page confirmed my thoughts: It was a suicide note.

_Dear Andre,_  
_I know that you love Tori, and I know that she loves you. The two of you are some of the greatest friends I've ever met and I know that that's not a coincidence. You two are made for each other and I can tell that Tori is special to you. You're special to her, too. She's told me over a million times that you're her first love and if you make her that happy, you're doing something right. So please, take care of Tori for me. I don't want her heart to be broken._

_Dear Tori,_  
_I love you, in a sisterly way, more than you could ever imagine. You've been so unbelievably kind to me despite everything that's ever happened. It's hard to find someone as amazing, talented, charming, and intelligent as you. Please "make it shine" someday, because I know that if anyone can, it'll be you. I hope that you keep Andre happy, and I hope he does the same for you. I know that you love him, so tell him._

_Dear Beck,_  
_Honestly, I didn't know you as well as I would have liked to, but I can see how happy Jade makes you, and how happy you make her in return. Everyone deserves that much. I know she claims to hate it, but please, keep making Jade happy. I can see that you're a great guy, and you've helped me out so often that I've lost count of how many times it's been, so please don't lose sight of yourself._

_Dear Jade,_  
_Our relationship could be complicated, but I know that you were always looking out for me. Even if I didn't deserve it, you tried your best to always be nice to me. Your patience could run thin, but you'd still be there for me. I hope you and Beck stay happy, because I know that he does make you happy, and please, work on being nicer to Tori. I think the two of you could be great friends if you both tried. And smile more, Jade, it looks pretty on you._

_Dear Trina,_  
_We don't see each other often, but you can usually brighten my day. You may be brash and sometimes annoying but on the inside, you're a great person with a heart of gold. I'm sorry that sometimes I could be annoying, since you've made that apparent, but I'm so grateful that you put up with it. I hope you get your chance to shine._

_Dear Charlie,_  
_You are the most amazing big brother in the entire world. I love you so much. You were my first best friend and you're definitely my last. You do some crazy things sometimes, but at the end of the day, you're still my brother. You are so protective of me in ways that other people aren't and I couldn't have asked for a better brother. Please tell Vanessa that you love her. I know she still loves you too._

_Dear Mom,_  
_I'm sorry it has to end this way, Mom. I know you've been looking out for me since birth, but you have to let go now. I'm sorry for (surely) putting us in debt ever since the accident. You've had to sell our car to get a wheelchair accessible one, install a handicap ramp and an elevator, buy me a wheelchair… I'm sorry that now you have to add 'plan a funeral' to the list._

_Dear Dad,  
I'll never forgive you for walking out on Mom, Charlie, and I. Case closed, period, end of story._

_Dear Robbie,  
The reason I've saved you for last is because I could write a novel on the subject of how much you mean to me. I'm sorry. The main thing I want to tell you is that I'm sorry. If we're being honest, I could write an entire letter just about you. I know how much I meant to you, even if I didn't always understand why. You've been the most amazing friend that I've ever made and I know that you are a great person, inside and out. You are my first, my only, my last true love. I love you more than words can express. I love you so, so much. Please, try to be happy without me. Try to find love again someday. I'll forgive you for it, because if anyone deserves happiness, you do. Please, Robbie, please let someone else have the pleasure of loving you. Let them into a place that you rarely let people into. And please, be happy without me. If you have to, start carrying Rex around again. Please try to continue on. Please do that for me. Just remember, Robbie, that I love you so much. You've made me feel so beautiful in these past few months. You've been so patient with me and so supportive and if a girl can't see how special and sweet you are, they really don't deserve you. I don't deserve you, and I never would. Please let Allison know that I love her like a sister, too, and don't let her forget me. I love you Robbie. I really, really do.  
_

_Good-bye, Cat._

I grew angry when I read her letter to me, which I knew I shouldn't have been. But I was. I was so angry that she was telling me that she loved me so much, yet she would hurt me just as much as she would love me. I was literally shaking with rage. I was never going to stop loving her as long as I lived. Even if I eventually 'loved someone else' like she had instructed me, a part of me would still cling to her memory.

No, she wasn't going to die. I couldn't give up just yet. Cat was too strong and too stubborn to give it up. She would be able to pull through. She just had to be able to make it. I was never going to forgive myself if she didn't.

It was all my fault. If I had just responded faster to her text, she wouldn't be in this mess. No, if I hadn't let her go home by herself, she wouldn't be here. If I had been there for her, on another one of our Friday movie nights, she wouldn't have been able to overdose. She would have been okay. She could have been in my arms as we watched _The Rescuers,_ I could have told her again and again that I loved her, I could have listened to her problems and made everything okay.

But I had let her slip away from me.

The seconds passed like hours as I continued to pace. Soon, I sighed, flopping down in a chair, resting my elbows on my knees, clasping my hands together, and touching the knuckles to my forehead. I needed to calm down. If I kept a positive attitude, maybe Cat would be okay. Maybe, just maybe, she'd pull through. Who knew how long it had been when I got there that she had taken those pills? It could have been five minutes. It could have been half an hour. I'd never know.

Maybe when she pressed the 'send' button on that text, she threw them back like a shot. Maybe even before she pressed the button, she had done so. I could only guess, but guessing meant being alone with my thoughts, and I liked that almost as much as I liked the situation.

Suddenly, the door to the E.R. opened and I was on my feet. It was Charlie. I ran up to him, my heart pounding so loud I could hear it. He looked into my eyes.

"Cat…?" I asked him.

The look that he gave me said it all. We both burst into tears.

* * *

**OKAY YAY~ Hehehe I love that ambiguous ending, don't you ^.^ Who wants to place a bet on whether she lived or not? :p Next chapter is the epilogue, YAY. That chapter is going to be a bit dramatic, possibly, but I think it might be a nice way to let this all end. And if it isn't, well, sue me. Thanks for reading and reviewing and stuff, it means the world to me! :)**

**La la la laaa: Because I'm evil ^.^ Lol, I'm not gonna lie, I kind of laughed reading your review, so I guess I _am _evil.  
Five Pies To The Face: Heheheh xD I knowwww  
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: Aren't I a great fanfic author? :'D ~sarcasm~**

**- Hatter of Madness**


	13. Epilogue: Here Without You

**Epilogue: _Five Years Later_**

After the funeral, I often went back to the cemetery again and again. Though I knew I had to, I just wasn't prepared to say good-bye. I had loved her, even if we struggled to show it, and saying good-bye would be like forgetting her. I had placed a red rose on her coffin at the funeral. It was a nice gesture, one that I knew deep in my heart that I had to do.

I sat on the ground, looking at the tombstone for a very long time. I wanted it etched in my memory, so that I could honestly say that I would never forget what it looked like and how it had embodied her personality. The setting sun at the top that was etched into the stone was more than a metaphor to me: It showed how much she loved life, and how full of life she really was.

I just couldn't believe that this was the end.

"I'm gonna miss you," I said, trying not to cry. I thought I was alone.

"Are you okay?" a voice behind me asked, obviously disproving that thought.

I turned around. "Yeah, I'm okay," I said to Allison, who was now quickly approaching my height. It was hard to believe that five years had passed already and that she was seventeen and attending Hollywood Arts as well for her ability to dance. She had been taking lessons since she was five years old, which had ultimately paid off. "At least, I will be." I sighed, standing up and looking down at the stone again.

"You gonna miss her, too?" Allison asked as I slipped an arm around her. Tears were springing into her eyes.

"Yep," I said, closing my eyes to ensure that I had the stone memorized and found, to my delight, that I did. I knew that life had to go on, a lesson that I had learned time and again from past experiences.

* * *

At home in my apartment a week later, I started getting ready for my date for that night. That date was going to be important; that night, I was going to ask her a very, very big question.

Even after high school had ended and we had all moved onto bigger and better things, I hadn't completely recovered from my socially awkward standing.

After arriving at the restaurant, I found her already seated at a table and walked over to her. "Hey," I said, bending down to kiss her cheek and sliding into the booth across from her. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's no problem," she said, smiling at me politely. "You look nice."

"Thanks," I said in surprise, "but really, I just found this in the back of my closet."

The waiter came by to get our drink orders, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat when he was very obviously flirting with my date. Yes, she was absolutely gorgeous, but it was obvious (to me, in any case) that she was with someone. When he came back with our drinks and took our actual orders, I tried to keep my tone flat to hide the fact that I was angry with him. However, he openly flirted with my date, yet again.

When he walked away, I teased, "Would it kill you to not be so gorgeous all the time?"

She laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that our waiter _totally_ has the hots for you," I said bluntly.

"It's not my fault. I have good genes."

I rolled my eyes. "Good genes. I'm so sure. Your family isn't exactly the poster family for good genes, if you ask me."

"Oh, you're so sweet," she said back. This seemed to be a staple in our relationship: Friendly teasing. In any case, we teased each other more than two rambunctious kids on the playground did. "Really, Robbie. You're just the nicest guy I've ever met."

"Nice sarcasm," I said back. I may have still been the awkward guy I had been when I attended Hollywood Arts, but something about her made me open up more. She was definitely something that had me outside of my comfort zone. At first, I didn't know if I liked that thought or not, but I realized over time that nothing had been better for me than that. "You're a comedian."

"I thought _you_ were," she said, feigning confusion. We talked and teased each other until our meals arrived, at which point we fell into a bit of an awkward silence. I could feel the anticipation in my bones, coursing through me like an impulse. _Was_ anticipation an impulse? My mind was a horrible place to be, it was such a mess. We fell into an awkward silence.

She finally broke the silence by saying, "I know it's been a while, but I'm really sorry about your grandmother."

I grimaced. "You don't have to be sorry," I said. "It was just…her time, you know?"

"Yeah," she said. We fell back into our silence. My grandmother's passing really had me shaken up. It was just out of nowhere, but it was sort of a reminder that life went on, a lesson I had learned the hard way when I was in school at Hollywood Arts.

Finally, after our plates were taken away, we sat having a conversation for a long time. The waiters definitely hinted at the fact that maybe, just maybe, they'd like us to leave at some point. I was just so enamored that I couldn't imagine that night ending, so eventually, I finally said, "I really need to ask you something."

"What is it, Robbie?"

"I know that you may not be ready for such a big commitment, but I want you to know that I am crazy in love with you. Before you get too freaked out, no, I'm not asking you to marry me—_yet_. I am just so crazy about you, though, that I really want to take this relationship to the next level." As though it were a marriage proposal, I got down on one knee in front of her, holding out a key. "Would you like to move in with me?"

Her hands flew up to her mouth in surprise. "Oh, Robbie, absolutely!" she said. "But what about—"

"My apartment is completely ready for you to move into," I promised. "I have a double bed, so you can sleep in my bedroom if you'd like. Or if you'd prefer your privacy, it's a two bedroom apartment, and I've completely prepared the second bedroom just in case. And if you do decide that you'd like to share a room with me, then you can turn the spare room into a studio or something for your photography. But what do you say? Will you move in with me?"

Tears started forming in her big brown eyes. "I love you, Robbie Shapiro."

"I love you, Cat Valentine. I promise you, I'm going to do my best to take care of you. And I have believed in you for so long, I absolutely have faith in you."

"Maybe now you'll have the nerve to ask me to marry you one day?" she teased.

I frowned. "Let's not get carried away."

She laughed in a way that only she could. Things had been absolutely insane in the last five years. After the suicide scare, Cat and I had been closer than ever. She suddenly realized she had to stop caring when she asked me for help with things, and I was always willing to help her. In some ways, the suicide attempt had been more emotionally trying than her car accident. She had spent late nights in tears, and I had held her and promised her that nothing in the world would change my opinion of her. I held her hand when she needed a hand to hold; I offered her my shoulder when she needed a shoulder to cry on; I lended my ears when she needed someone to listen.

I very rarely let Cat leave my sight after that as well. I had come so close to losing her that I was not going to let it happen a second time. I loved Cat Valentine for all that she was and all that she ever would be. With her paraplegia, there were times that were difficult for the both of us, but I knew no one was going to ever love her the way that _I_ loved her.

We had sort of started a tradition after Hollywood Arts of having a movie date, at a real movie theater, every Friday. If either one of us was sick, or if in our starving student days we couldn't afford it, we'd watch a movie at Cat's house. Still, the people at the movie theater had dubbed us the "RomCom Couple", seeing as we were there typically once a week.

Things had definitely changed for everyone after graduating. It seemed that everyone had taken Cat's suggestions in her letter to heart, even though she had survived. It was as though they had realized how close we all were to losing her, and that no one should have to finish life unhappily.

Tori and Andre were still going strong, and Andre was constantly protecting Tori and treating her well. They had become a two-person band called The Outlook_. _They had already gone double platinum on their debut album, _Harris & Vega. _Their lead singles from the album, _Tell Me That You Love Me _and a duet version of _Make It Shine,_ peaked at the top of the charts. We all speculated that they'd probably end up married someday.

Beck realized his dream of being a film director, while Jade had starred in both of the films he had made. They had become a director-actress couple, as they were dubbed by fans; a magazine reporter had called them "the next Tim Burton and Helena Bonham-Carter". Jade had become a happier person, smiling more and she had worked on being nicer to Tori as well. Beck, despite his success, stayed true to who he was and worked on keeping Jade happy.

Trina had finally caved in and hired an acting and vocal coach, and her voice had definitely become much, much better. She was a back up singer for The Outlook but was working on a solo career with a little help from her friends. She also had a major attitude adjustment, always putting her best foot forward.

Cat and Charlie's dad worked on reconciling things with his children. Cat's mom, however, quit her job and found a better, higher paying one to take care of all of the bills that had started piling up from Cat's injury.

Charlie had asked his ex-girlfriend, Vanessa, for a second chance and they were engaged to be married. When he moved with her to her hometown of Chicago, he had given Cat a Canon camera that could record video and told her to keep him updated with pictures on SplashFace (the creators had realized the creativity behind photography, so the site had become split between that and videos). He still kept in touch with Cat and continued to be one of the best friends that she had.

As for Cat and myself, we were obviously still dating. Cat had helped me pursue my dream of becoming "the next Jeff Dunham". I had even gone back to using Rex, as I hoped to establish myself as a comedian and ventriloquist. Beck had promised me a small part in his next film in attempt to "put my talent out there".

Cat had given up, for the time being, her dream of being an actress or singer. I was crushed, but she promised me it had nothing to do with the outcome of _Skater Girl _and _The Wizard of Oz. _In fact, if a job offer came up, she said, she would consider coming out of early retirement. The thing was, when Charlie gave her the camera, she started taking pictures and putting them on SplashFace. The response she got was so overwhelming that she had started a career as a photographer. I had supported her one hundred percent of the way.

Later that night, I got home and went on my computer when Andre texted me, _Check out Red's latest post on Splashface. Totally cute Rob._ After browsing for a while, I found the picture in question.

Cat's photography was always so simple, yet so beautiful and powerful, and that post was no exception. It was a simple picture of the key I had given her to my apartment—no, our apartment. The title of the post was _A House is Not A Home; _the caption read, "Did I mention we're moving in together? I love this guy."

I smiled, clicking the 'love' button below the picture, then started to look through her portfolio. My all-time favorite was one that I had actually helped her take. She had set up her wheelchair on the floor, setting up the camera so that the picture would take at just the _right _angle, then got on the floor (that was one part I had helped with) and crossed her legs, pushing her wheelchair to the side so that it balanced on one wheel. She had an 'artsy' expression on her face, as she had called it, titling the picture _Hell On Wheels_.

But I paused on a picture of the two of us. She had put a ten second timer on as we walked (well, I walked, she wheeled) along the beach on our third anniversary, just a little while after she discovered her talent for photography. Our backs were to the camera. The sun was setting, hitting the water and our figures just right. I was holding her hand, as she pushed herself in her wheelchair with one arm. The title was _Love With No Limits._ The caption on that post read, "Three years with the amazing Robert Aaron Shapiro. I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

Cat was mine, all mine. She was the only thing I had ever truly loved.

* * *

**I'm kind of mad at my Internet for tweaking out right as I finished this. This is my THIRD time writing the end of the chapter. For some reason, whenever I write a story in Microsoft Word, it doesn't really work when I try to upload it to FF, so I just usually type my new chapters on FF itself. Right as I was going to save the doc (like literally right as I finished the chapter), the page refreshed and I had lost everything after "I love you, Cat Valentine" and had to start over ._. A few things I'd like you to address in reviews, if you don't mind. First, did I have you tricked at all? Second, when did you figure out that he was on a date with Cat? Third, what is your honest opinion of my writing? The last one's really important since I'm writing a novel at the moment and it's my biggest dream to be published (my novel is way better than this, imo :p). I was really stressing about this chapter, like, did it work? Was it ambiguous enough? Was anyone tricked? Etc., etc. My friend originally thought Allison was Cat, and later when I revealed that Robbie was on a date with Cat, that she wasn't in a wheelchair. Nope, still paralyzed, and the big reveal was towards the end. I'm not that nice :p I ended this on lucky chapter 13, without even planning it :p Also, did anyone notice the word/name "Cat" in the title...? Moving on, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for everything on this story. This was just a random idea I got the other day and I NEVER thought it'd be this popular :) Thank you again.**

**La la la laaa: Why do I keep laughing at your reviews? xD You're welcome~  
Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: Hehehehe xD Did I have you tricked this chapter? ~crosses fingers~ It's funny, in my actual writing I very rarely use cliffhangers but like went overboard in this o.O  
CabbieLoverSAC22: Was it a good kind of shocked? :D & Was it a bad kind of speechless? xP  
IHadToChangeMyPennameSoThere: Holy crap? I'll take that as a compliment ;p Thank you!**

**- Hatter of Madness**


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